The-Nav

Academy Awards - My Annual Predictions

2011-01-24T20:47:00.005-05:00

Growing older, watching time marching by, one can only sit and find amusement at how certain rituals and customs are performed purely for the sake of performing them. I really wish I could utilize the word 'perfunctory' somewhere in the above sentence, an impossible task it would seem since my writing skills have diminished somewhat from general lack of practice.

In any case, my annual Oscar predictions have fallen in the above perfunctory ritual, serving me neither pleasure in presenting my analysis nor grief in having lost a once much loved past time.

Here goes -

Best Director

1. Darren Arofonsky - Black Swan
2. David Fincher - Social Network -- Winner
3. Tom Hooper - The King's Speech
4. David O'Russell - The Fighter
5. Christopher Nolan - Inception

Best Movie (Assuming Academy is still going with hare brained scheme of nominating 10 movies....)

1. The King's Speech
2. Social Network -- Winner
3. The Fighter
4. Inception
5. Toy Story III
6. Black Swan
7. 127 Hours
8. Blue Valentine
9. The Winter's Bone
10. The Kids are alright

Possible sneaker(s)- True Grit

Best Actor

1. Colin Firth - King's Speech -- Winner
2. Jesse Eisenberg - Social Network
3. James Franco - 127 Hours
4. Ryan Gosling - Blue Valentine
5. Kevin Spacey - Casino Jack

Possible sneakers - Javier Bardem (Biutiful); Mark Wahlberg (Fighter); Jeff Bridges (True Grit); Paul Giamatti (Barney's Version)

Best Actress

1. Natalie Portman - Black Swan -- Get your speech ready.
2. Nicole Kidman - Rabbit Hole
3. Annette Bening - The Kids are Alright
4. Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine
5. Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone

Possible sneakers - Julianne Moore - The Kids are Alright

Best Supporting Actor

1. Christian Bale - The Fighter -- Winner
2. Geoffrey Rush - King's Speech
3. Andrew Garfield - Social Network
4. Jeremy Renner - The Town
5. Mark Ruffalo (The Kids are alright)

Possible sneaker(s) - Matt Damon (True grit), Jim Broadbent - Another Year

Best Supporting Actress

1. Melissa Leo - The Fighter -- Close.
2. Helena Bonham Carter - King's Speech
3. Amy Adams - The Fighter
4. Barbara Hershey - Black Swan
5. Hailee Steinfield - True Grit

Possible sneaker(s) - Mila Kunis (Black Swan), Jackie Weaver (Animal Kingdom)

Best Screenplay (Adapted)

1. Social Network -- Winner
2. The King's Speech
3. The Ghost Writer
4. True Grit
5. 127 Hours

Possible sneaker(s)- The Town

Best Screenplay (Original)

1. Black Swan
2. Biutiful
3. Another Year
4. Inception -- Winner
5. Fighter

Possible sneaker(s) - Somewhere, Blue Valentine

Mani's best

2010-08-02T21:47:00.007-04:00

I had high expectations from Raavanan. Now having watched it, obviously since the final product does not meet the expectation set I feel slightly letdown. But surprised by wide spread criticism of the movie, I began wondering if this movie would be judged differently by future audiences if released say 5 years down the line. Would the reaction be more favorable? How would it compare to all Mani's other works.

There is no doubt Mani Ratnam is a pathbreaking director. He has an uncanny knack of understanding the pulse of the audience and delivers accordingly. But if you look closely, you'll notice that not many of his movies stand the test of time.

Here is my ranking of all Mani Ratnam movies till date-

1. Iruvar
2. Thalapathy
3. Nayakan
4. Roja
5. Agni Nakshatram
6. Alai Payuthey
7. Bombay
8. Mouna Raagam
9. Guru & Raavanan/ Raavan (Tied)
11. Geethanjali
12. Thiruda Thiruda
13. Pagal Nilavu
14. Ayudha Ezhuthu / Yuva
15. Kannathil Muthamittal
16. Anjali

I dont think too many would disagree with the top 4 movies, although Iruvar could be questionable choice to some. And maybe the rankings would differ. But by and large, the top 4 define the essence of Mani Ratnam school of filmaking.

The rest if seen hindsight are quite topical in nature. For e.g I must have watched Agni Natchataram probably 10-15 times and at one considered it to be one of the best Tamil movies produced.
But watching it the other day on youtube, it just seemed so poorly directed with its jerky editing, its none too subtle camera work which distracted me from the story. And mind you, this was pioneering work from P.C.Sreeram

So that being said, it could be possible the reverse maybe true for Raavanan and that once the dust is settled and people have forgotten all the immense hype surrounding it, maybe, just maybe it could be judged for what is really worth.

Nav

P.S. I think the same could be said for any filmaker. Indian or non-Indian. Think any Subhash Ghai movie could fall into the above category. Just imagine how his blockbusters like Ram Lakhan, Saudagar and Hero etc would fare with today's audiences.

Quick Reviews - Raavanan

2010-08-02T21:19:00.005-04:00

Raavanan released worldwide on June 18. 5 watched Raavanan on the 19th and Raavan on 21st.

Some of the thoughts I've penned below were written soon after on a word document.

Today I finally found the time to publish it here.

Raavanan

One of the few Indian movies which I’ve eagerly awaited in a long time. And for good reason(s) – Well for one, any Mani Ratnam production is an event in itself, but this had the added bonus of featuring Vikram in a challenging role.

The presence of A R Rahman didn’t hurt either. The premise looked interesting. Ratnam’s re-telling of the Ramayan and specifically focusing on Raavan’s side of the story. The previews were just right and kept me hooked on for more. Pains me to say I checked Sify.com religiously (almost every other day) to track the latest news related to this movie. Ahem.That being said..

Having watched both versions, the Hindi version twice, my personal and hopefully objective opinion is that this a noble effort.

Mani Ratnam experiments with the presentation, heavy emphasis on conceptualizing and creating beautiful images, ably supported in his efforts by Santosh Sivan and Sreekar Prasad. This could arguably be the finest technical product to come out of India in a long time.

I won’t go into too much detail about the story which is threadbare at best. Ratnam takes an interesting concept and tries to weave some semblance of a narrative around it but falters. It is as if he visioned a high level road map in terms of plot structure and scene creation but just couldnt translate it to character development and dialogues. And this would rile even the most ardent Ratnam fan boys since the generic, card board cut out characterization and cliched dialogue makes it difficult for the audience to establish any sort of emotional rapport with the characters.

It is only the individual brilliance of Vikram and Prithviraj, who despite being let down by Mani’s script, who carry the movie. It seems as if they had to dig deep into their thinly sketched caricatures and add layers and emotional resonance into their characters.

Vikram scores in most scenes where he gets to display his softer, understated acting. Take all his interactions with Aishwarya Rai, especially the scene next to the Statue of God in the forest and the climax. A True genius.
Prithvi has comparatively lesser screen time than Vikram and Aishwarya Rai but shines as the suave, cool super cop modeling his Ray-Ban aviators. His characterization allows a dynamic counterpoint to Vikram more rustic, roguish portrayal.

Aishwarya does a credible job in physically and emotionally demanding role although post intermission her role reduces significantly which is a pity since her character was shaping up quite well – A woman caught in between the war of men.

You need only look at Vikram’s performance to understand the wave of negative reviews and comments about the Hindi version and Abhishek’s performance in particular.

AB Jr is best suited to limited type of roles and this movie requires him to improvise and perform outside of his comfort zone. And he fails to connect with his character.

While Vikram channels an un-educated, backward person, AB Jr brings a more manic, off-kilter energy to the screen which seems inconsistent and just a little off the mark.

On the music department A.R Rahman’s back ground score is haunting. And I mention haunting in its most positive way. You can read more my thoughts on the back ground score here

But the songs themselves are mostly situational based and save for the Raavanan's theme song 'Beera Beera' and perhaps 'Usire Poguthey' (Behne de in Hindi) none of the others hold up on repeat listening.

Karthik, Prabhu and PriyaMani have minor roles. Karthik makes the most of it, despite Mani Ratnam having him jump around like a monkey to nail in the Hanuman comparison. Unnecessary but Karthik shows glimpses of his old self.
Govinda is wasted in the Hindi version of Hanuman.

Raavanan - Mani's version of a masala movie. Worth a watch. But don't take it too seriously.

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2009: The Movies

2010-03-14T19:59:00.003-04:00

I've been known to watch a lot of movies. In theaters and on DVD. But in 2009 I watched a significantly less number of movies on the big screen as compared to previous years. Difficult to pinpoint exact causes - Overall there just weren't too many movies which caught my interest and well I'm sure being married had something to do with it also.

I've listed down all the hollywood movies I watched in the theaters -

1 Pink Panther 2
2 Star Trek
3 Angels & Demons
4 Terminator Salvation
5 Up
6 The Hangover
7 The taking of Pelham 123
8 Transformers: Revenge of the fallen
9 The Hurt Locker
10 Public Enemies
11 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
12 GI Joe: Rise of Cobra
13 District 9
14 Inglorious Basterds
15 Law Abiding Citizen
16 Up in the Air
17 Avatar
18 Sherlock Holmes

We've attempted to watch the major releases; Avatar, Hurt Locker, Inglorious, Up & Hangover make up the best of the year. Harry Potter narrowly misses out the top 5.

List of Bollywood/Indian movies watched in a theater (in US/India)

1 Luck by Chance
2 Delhi 6
3 Abhiyum naanum
4 Naan Kadavul
5 99
6 Kaminey
7 Kurbaan
8 Josh
9 Unnaipol Uravan
10 Kandhaswamy
11 Ayan
12 3 Idiots

Kaminey, Kurbaan & 3 Idiots round up a pretty good year for Bollywood which is currently riding a high in terms of quality.

List of Movies watched in the comfort of my home -

1 Dev D
2 I love you man
3 Gulaal
4 Barah Aana
5 13B
6 8*10 Tasveer
7 Aa Dekhen Zara
8 Stoneman Murders
9 State of Play
10 The Merry Gentlemen
11 Little Zizou
12 The Brothers Bloom
13 Away we go
14 Moon
15 Cheri
16 New York
17 Love Aaj Kal
18 Whats your Rashee

So we're looking at a total of 30 movies watched at the cinemas. Out of the 100s of movies released in the world in 2009 we watched a grand total of 48..which seems remarkably less.

Some of the movies which we missed out and hope to catch on DVD soon -

1 In the Loop
2 500 Days of Summer
3 The Fantastic Mr.Fox
4 Me & Orson Welles
5 Everybody's Fine
6 Crazy Heart
7 An Education
8 The Men who stare at goats
9 Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahani
10 The Messenger
11 The Road
12 Rocket Singh: Salesman of the year

2010 Oscars - The beginning of the end

2010-03-11T10:58:00.007-05:00

The 2010 Oscars was possibly the worst show I've witnessed since I began watching the annual event in 1994.

The jokes were dull, the presentation sluggish and the winners themselves were predictable and boring. And truly a shame for this was a historic year at the Oscars with the first female director to win the top prize. But that will probably be the only memory to take away from this otherwise drab ceremony which is surely losing its relevance on the world stage.

And pray how could Avatar lose out as best picture of the year. Both the people and critics have spoken out loud. It is THE BIGGEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME. It has set new benchmarks in terms of visual style and technology. And it was infinitely better than titanic which raked up all those awards a dozen years ago.

And isn't it sad that the Academy goofed up and forgot to mention Farah Fawcett as part of the In Memoriam segment. Unlucky to have died on the same day as the King of Pop Michael Jackson, and thus provided poor coverage by the news media. And now Oscar forget to pay tribute. Eh. Overall just a bad show.

Although it seemed that they cut down on a lot of the bells & whistles, yet the whole show stretched past the 3.5 hour mark. The ass-kissing testimonies to best Actor nominees were just plain embarrasing and had me squirming in my couch, spare a thought for those nominees who had to sit through it with cameras pointed straight at them..

And why was George Clooney acting all sour and Mr.Grumpy. Guy needs to really take himself less seriously. I think he really isn't laid back as he makes out to be on the reel screen.

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2010: Oscar Nominations Predictions

2010-02-01T22:28:00.002-05:00

Oscar nominations will be announced early tomorrow. For the past 3 years I’ve being going through this exercise where I predict the nominations ahead of the actual announcement and see how close my choices were.

Writing, talking and analyzing about the Academy awards used to be such a fun thing for me. But over the past few years its becoming more a chore and my excitement levels have been mostly blah.

Last year was truly a snooze fest and personally if not for the all the buzz surrounding Slumdog Millionaire & A R Rahman I would skipped the event all together.

No such buzz this year as none of the potential nominations have roused either my interest or passion. To make matters worse the academy have come up with this brilliant plan (note the sarcasm) to nominate not the usual the 5, but 10 films for the coveted Best picture category, thereby diluting the once sacred sanctum of best picture nominations. Especially in a year where the quality of films have not quite hit the benchmark set of a few years ago.

Anyhow lets give a shot –

Best Picture-

1)Up in the Air
2)A serious Man
3)The Road
4)The Hurt Locker
5)Avatar
6)Inglorious Basterds
7)Fantastic Mr Fox
8)Up
9)Precious
10)A Single Man

Give it Avatar and be done with it. I mean it has afterall grossed over $2 billion worldwide and counting. And the film has set a benchmark, for years to come, in terms of Visual effects, pioneering 3D & gross earnings.

Two other possible candidates -District 9 & 500 days of summer

Best Actor
1)George Clooney - Up in the Air
2)Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker
3)Viggo Mortensen - The Road
4)Morgan Freeman - Invictus
5)Jeff Bridges - A Crazy Heart - Winner

Possible candidate - Colin Firth – A single Man

Best supporting actor
1)Christoph Waltz - The Inglorious Basterds - Hands down winner
2)Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
3)Matt Damon - Invictus
4)Woody harelson - The Messenger
5)Alfred Molina – An Education

Best actress
1)Meryl Streep - Julia & Julia
2)Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
3)Carey Mulligan - An Education
4)Emily blunt - Young Victoria
5)Penelope Cruz - Broken Embraces - Likely winner. As long as Sandra Bullock doesnt win.

Best Supporting actress
1)Soirase Ryan - The Lovely Bones
2)Monique - Precious - Throwing a dart blind folded.
3)Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
4)Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
5)Diane Kruger - The Inglorious Basterds

Director
1)Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
2)James Cameron - Avatar - Deserves to win. Probably the first time in the history of oscar that an ex-husband & wife are going against each other in any major category
3)Jason Reitman - Up in the Air
4)Lee Daniels - Precious
5)Quentin Tarantino - The Inglorious Basterds

Best Original screenplay
1)Inglorious Basterds - Should win. Comon everybody loves QT.
2)Avatar
3)500 days of summer
4)Up
5)A Serious Man

Best Adapted Screenplay
1)Crazy Heart
2)Up in the Air
3)Precious
4)District 9
5)Fantastic Mr.Fox - Should win

Thats the word. Enough said about this non-event. I'm off to sleep.

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Aayarthil Oruvan

2010-01-27T22:18:00.006-05:00

AO

While watching AO this past week, the one thing which kept running in my head, was how far Tamil cinema has aged. And I deliberately chose the word aged rather than progress, cos progress seems to somehow puts a positive spin/connotation to it.

AO is unconventional. Some may decry it, some may proclaim it as the best of the year, and others like me may just go – “what the hell is going on here” right through the movie yet remain glued to the proceedings on the screen.

Cos not a lot of it makes a whole lot of sense, but there is a definite a new-ness to the visuals, the story lines and the characters, both in depiction and approach.

AO continues the trend of new age Tamil directors defying conventional cinema and not being afraid of taking it to outer reaches, darker places.

And Selvaraghavan (SR), after this monumental efforts will join the league of directors like Bala, Ameer, Gautham Menon, SasiKumar who have slowly but surely transformed the landscape of Tamil cinema, which has always worked well within the boundaries of populist entertainment. Even those handful of film makers who have attempted to shed the weight of commercialism (like Mani Ratnam, K Balachander, Balu Mahendra) have never really strayed too far away from the brahamanical , puranitcal framework of story-telling. In comparison we have the world of neo-realistic, raw & gritty cinema which new age directors revel in.

I wont dwell too long on AO's plot. A quick search in Wikipedia shall tell the readers all they need to know about the film.

But what I will try to attempt is to grade AO. And in order to do so, I would look at the intent and execution.

In terms of intent, a big kudos to SR and all the people involved behind the scenes who had the gumption (read Balls) to produce and create this epic. I praise the boldness.

In terms of execution although great strides have been made in the realm of story-telling, acting & cinematography, the special effects/visual effects domain continue to be stuck in the 90’s which is a big letdown. There is nothing more distracting then seeing a good idea on paper fail completely cos the special effects on screen look like a hand-drawn cartoon. And for audiences who are lapping up the wonders of Avatar, the f/x in AO will look clumsy and amateurish.

The story overall seems to suffer from SR's over-ambition. The tone and pace of the first half does not gell well with second half which takes a turn for the serious. The last 15-20 minutes detailing the torture and cruel treatment meted out to the captured cholas – Is this some allegorical references to treatment of Srilankan tamils? If so then it deserves to be in a different movie. In fact the entire second half deserves a movie of its own.

Credit to SR who at time seems to be chanelling either Quentin Tarantino (the F-bombs flying between Reema Sen & Andrea), Francis Ford Coppola (the Jungle sequences and the second half reminded me of Apocalyse now) or Peter Jackson and who has also liberally drawn ideas from King Kong & Gladiator and others and yet managing to ensure AO retains its own unique flavor.

At the onset Karthi seems to be stuck in Paruthiveeran mode, then disappears, and towards the end changes gears and becomes the reclusive hero. Reema Sen seems to be out of sync with her dialogue through most of the movie, but makes up for it through dynamic physical acting & body language. Andrea's character is too thinly sketched to work with. Parthiban brings an imposing physical presence as the towering Chola King. His introduction scene is well executed.

Definitely worth a watch. But go in with an open mind.

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Thoughts on Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol

2009-09-27T20:59:00.007-04:00

Well it had to have happened at some point..

Where do I even begin with this book? Like most serious readers I like my books well-written. And Dan Brown with his seemingly inexhaustible talent for writing engrossing page-turners and for clever puzzles and plot twists had set a pretty high bar. So what happened here? Well apparently the gas is now running on empty.

Dan Brown is a publishing phenomenon and even if he had written a novel about the secret, dark history of Spongebob Squarepants people would be running out in droves to buy it, but even the most gifted of writers have editors for a reason. Dan Brown needs one desperately, and not just to smooth over the more awkward dialogue. The plot in The Lost Symbol is an absolute travesty. Long digressions, unnecessary exposition disguised as dialogue, suspect character motivations, and a ending that dragged on and on...and on...

I kept plugging along until about half-way through when i realized that absolutely NOTHING had really happened in the storyline. It didn't even feel like a Dan Brown book. The excitement, and nervous anticipation I've felt while devouring his previous books, was nowhere to be found. My eyes were literally glazing over from Brown's attempt to sound scholarly about the minutest details of the most boring, and inexplicable 'scientific' subjects. Noetic science..Please!

While his previous books succeeded in grabbing my attention right away with intriguing plots and believable characters, this book felt cold, stiff and reading religious text instead of a novel.

The writing was bland and formulaic. It seemed he was re-writing his own material with a different setting. Crammed with pointless sub-plots which exists only as an excuse for some character to begin a long winded, encyclopedia-esque explanation of useless concepts, flooded with unbearable cliches, thrown in multiple times for good measure.

Upon reflection there is so much wrong with this book it would be a major waste of my personal time to go about them in detail but here some of the things which really irked me -

1) Why is Langdon so dumbed down? This is the same guy who could decipher secret codes and had the open mind to propose there were secret messages hidden in Leonardo's art and that Jesus was married and had a baby, all ideas which are difficult to swallow, won't believe that what's going on in this book is literal and not metaphorical? His continued scepticism for the vast portion of the book, even towards the end, is particularly annoying.

2) Where is the threat? In all his previous efforts Brown was able to establish a very real threat which the protagonists were up against (usually a race against the clock). What is the threat here? Is there a time bomb ticking some place? Has Ma'Lak kidnapped the president!? No..he has a bunch of Washington officials on video tape performing a Masonic ritual. Not even a Satanic ritual. A Masonic ritual! Hardly a national security threat I would think, and no one in the story seemed to take seriously anyway save the chain smoking director Sato.
And speaking of, why is this "threat" being investigated by a CIA's watchdog group who's primary function is to spy on CIA?!? Isn't this a matter for some other body? The FBI? DC Police? Just wondering. Another prime example of Brown introducing the audience to an organization simply to inform they exist. Ditto for Noetic science. Early on while reading I thought that maybe there was a bad side effect relating noetic science which maybe the threat later..But this piece really didn't go anywhere. In fact the character of Katherine Solomon could've been conveniently avoided.

I'm certain that Dan Brown will quickly rebound and regain his deft touch. Among contemprary writers in terms of popularity he is right up there with J.K Rowling, Stephen King etc. And he should make sure he doesnt lose his audience.
And I know it'll be pretty tough but Mr.Brown also needs to step away from Wikipedia.

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Quick Reviews - Public Enemies

2009-07-03T11:45:00.005-04:00

Most Micheal Mann movies are visual treats punctuated with tense action sequences and gritty drama. Watch Heat or Collateral or Miami Vice and you'll get a fair sense of Mann's directing style. Comparisons with fellow visual masters such Brian De Palma and Steven Soderbergh are inevitable, but Mann has risen above particularly since both De Palma and Soderbergh have mostly been pissing away their name recognition by making boring movies in the recent past.
Mann's best movies thus far are those which explore his penchant for the cops and robbers dynamic. But when he has dealt with other subjects such as Ali and The Insider they have proved to be engaging and compelling.

Public Enemies is a mixed bag. Mann seems intent on a faithful re-telling of the John Dillinger story that it feels like docu-drama with A+ acting. Which is not to say its a bad movie. It is wonderfully constructed and Mann's maximizes the scope of his hand held camera to capture the landscape of 1930's America as well probe into the psyche of John Dillinger. But Mann deliberately choose drama over thrill and that may ultimately be the movie's undoing.
The movie lacks a grand, stand-out sequence which the audience usually take away from his movies.
Public Enemies falls well short of other period gangster flicks such The Untouchables, Bonnie and Clyde and Bugsy despite Mann's competent direction.

Johnny Depp dominates the screen and is charismatic as ever. Christian Bale is effective but I think he's over-exposing himself this year by portraying similar sort of roles which undo his work leading up to the Dark Knight. He should take a leaf out of Depp's book - Less is more and Diversity is King. Billy Cudrup shines in a supporting role bringing out the essence and idiosyncrasies of J.Edgar Hoover. Last year Oscar winner Marion Cotillard completes the casting coup of the year with a forceful performance.

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RIP: King of Pop

2009-06-28T19:07:00.005-04:00

Sometimes words just cant express the emotions. But I will always remember where I was when I heard about MJ's death - in a conference room with six other people at work, discussing some functional specifications, which as it turned out, has been discarded.

I received the news with shock and sadness. I grew up listening to MJ as have a million others. For those growing up in the 80's we are all part of the MJ generation, he was our Elvis Presley, our John Lennon and I'm certain his unique personality, music and wacko-jacko life played a big part in our collective pop culture history.

Again, I don't wish to talk in length about how much I admired him, cos in a way, I don't really remember. When I was younger I was definitely a big fan of his music, dance moves and his music videos. His music was so accessible. Especially a kid like me in chennai. But as time passed, I became distracted by the man and all the craziness surrounding him than remembering the musician and somehow that affected his status in my estimation.
And also by then I'd moved on to other forms of music. But his death at once reminded me of the music I'd loved as a kid and I suppose that's where the sadness comes in. His death sorta subtly reminds me of my own mortality. Reminding me I'm no longer a kid. But a man heading towards the inevitable conclusion.

And death is so final. Its saddening cos we'll no longer have any new memories of MJ. No new music. No new grand music video. But we attempt to cling on to the memories we have embedded in our minds, especially those vague memories which we desperately want to remember.
And how sad will it be to explain to the kids of the future, maybe even my own kids, the true worth of MJ. His act and his music would seem so dated by then.

Such is life.

Goodbye MJ. I'm not the first and I'm definitely not the last to tell you this -- But thank you for the great music. I hope you find peace wherever you might be.

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P.S - Its gladdening to see this outpouring of love and affection by the people and all the positive press generated by mainstream media, which surely will only enhance his image and hopefully help people remember all the good things which made MJ be MJ.

Quick Reviews - 99

2009-05-31T20:12:00.007-04:00

Bollywood gets it right.AGAIN. 99 is set to just the right tempo, pace and contains adequate amount of zany, tongue-in-cheek humor to keep it entertaining for over 2+ hours.
Coupled with breezy dialogues and chutzpah performances by Boman Irani, Cyrus Broacha and Mahesh Manjrekar, the story keeps you perpetually amused. And surprisingly a lot of attention has been given to the little details in this period movie (set 1999-2000) with clever references surrounding that time period.

Kunal Khemu and Soha Ali Khan have their moments. Vinod Khanna makes a pleasant comeback to the big screen.

The plot is threadbare at best, so I wont go into any great details, but suffice to say there are no major logical goof-ups and the director duo keep it chugging along, avoiding lengthy song and dance routines. Best to watch the movie with limited expectations and without reading too many reviews and plot discussions.

99 - Good effort.

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Quick Reviews - Summer Hours

2009-05-31T14:49:00.009-04:00

After having seen my fair share of European movies, I have to comment that french movies are probably the most subjective of the lot. Which is a good reason why they draw such diverse (extreme even) reactions. Unlike Hollywood where the focus is on the bottom line, driven by the Dollars, Profitability, Marketability & Merchandising most French directors, like true artistes, are concerned only with the story and the characters who inhabit its frames. They set aside cost-revenue models outside the production house and leave the judging to the audiences.

Which is why for some Summer hours (L'Heure d'ete) will be seen as nothing more than a clinical detailing of death and its aftermath. But for me it shall remain a top class movie. Like those several other movies which seem infinitely better only cos I was fortunate to see it at the right time, at the right place where it would create the most impact. Movies such as Jerry Macguire, Signs, Meet Joe Black.

Why do we mourn when somebody dies? Why do we hold sacred their possessions? Why do we hold on to the memories of those who were dear to us? Are we afraid that by letting go of the possessions, we would lose all memory of their existence? How would I feel if I had to sell the house I grew up in? Its like a large part of my life will disappear.

The story for Summer Hours is quite simple. The matriarch of a family consisting of three adult children Frederic (Charles Berling), Jeremie (Jeremie Renier) and Adrienne (Juliette Binoche) dies shortly after her 75th birthday, leaving her considerable estate comprising a large house in the village, and several considerable assets - art collection, furniture and the valuable personal effects belonging to a great uncle who was a fairly well regarded French artist. The mother had spend most of her lifetime safeguarding the house and its assets given her closeness to her uncle.

The eldest, Frederic, shares his mom's devotion to the estate and wishes it remain within the family. I suppose, he hopes his children and grandchildren could also enjoy/experience the same idyllic childhood, all those summer hours, spent in the vast gardens of the house. But Jeremie and Adrienne don't share such idealistic notions. They have their own lives and plans, blossoming careers living abroad in China and NY respectively and they cant quite see the value in keeping the house. Despite the sense of loss they only wish to move on, trying to dispose off the house and its belongings as quickly as possible and use the cash to fortify their dreams.

Director Olivier Assayas unfolds the drama with minimal fuss and he never over-reaches or attempts to manipulate the audience into false sentimentality. And his approach is spot on. He presents the practical difficulties of idealism in a world of constant change. He presents the truth as it stands without embellishments. Where does idealism stand in the world of logical decisions?

I was able to relate most closely with Frederic's character. He holds on to the hope that by preserving the house, the paintings, the garden, he could not only hold on to the memories of his childhood but also preserve its integrity and pass it on to his kids. But there is a big generational gap as Assayas portrays in the final 15 minutes. The kids of today have their own definition of fun.
The movie is never heavy-handed or overly preachy. But uses wonderful subtlety to underscore many of the sad truths of life. Like how we have do not have the time for the elderly. No matter our good intentions and attempts to stay in touch and be there for them, we're too often caught up in our daily lives, our dreams and plans, that we forget.
Like how we attach precious memories with certain objects. And how those objects therefore hold more value to us than to others.
There is a scene in the movie which highlights this where Frederic and his wife see his mother's desk in a museum and it somehow doesn't feel right.
"It looks caged" he remarks
I wont go about describing my emotions in this scene. But it was very touching.

The movie also provides a side commentary on the decline of France with many of its citizens leaving the nation looking for opportunities elsewhere, thereby leading to an erosion of French tradition and culture.

And what about the house maid Eloise? She has spend a good portion of her life taking care of the house and its members? What ever will she do now.

And of course there is the curious case of Frederic's daughter who was caught doing weed and who exhibits rebellious behavior against her parents. Is she disappointed that the adults took the decision of selling the house without consulting the kids? I mean after all her grandmother had once told her lovingly that she would one day walk with her kids down the same garden she once played.

"But the house is now sold" the daughter tells her boyfriend matter-of-factly in the final scene of the movie.

Another hidden layer of truth. Beautiful. For those who can relate this is a deeply contemplative movie.

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Quick Reviews - Terminator Salvation

2009-05-23T00:35:00.013-04:00

* Spoilers follow. Proceed with caution

For all its talk about the power of the human heart Terminator Salvation showed very little when of it when it came to the stuff that really made Terminator 1 and Terminator 2 such great movies.

I feared as much when I saw McG's name came up as director in the opening credits. He is at best a POPCORN director, in the mould of a Tony Scott or a Michael Bay who have the god given ability to craft and bring to life fantastical action sequences and integrate the power of sound, visuals and effects with explosive results but at the same time suck the emotional resonance of a movie with equal aplomb. His earlier works such as Charlies Angels (and sequel) prove as much.

Though to be fair some of the blame should be attributed to the writers, but somehow I feel a lot of the good stuff from the script must have been either left out by the director or got cut in the editing room, especially in terms of character building and exposition.
For instance I'm confident there was a good reason the movie was titled Terminator Salvation? Surely for all the emphasis on John Conner and the resistance, the only character who qualifies for any form of Salvation is Marcus, the half-human, half-machine, confused wanderer, a man who in a prior life had committed some grave sin worthy of a death sentence but to which we're given no details or back-story.
How does this individual go from a death row convict to a hero sacrificing his heart to save the life of John Conner is never fully explained. Marcus's character is only half developed and all the we're led to feel is his overwhelming 'need to be human'. Probably McG may address in a future installment. Sam Worthington does what little he can with his half-baked character but comes across as a force to reckon with.

John Conner exists as a fully grown person showing no signs or reference to the kid who once was. And Christian Bale carries his role with such amazing conviction and charisma, you can't but help admire his character. But when Conner comes face-to-face with Marcus (the human but who for all scientific purposes is fully robotic) he instantly distrusts him.

"You're a robot" he says "You killed my father, you tried to kill my mother, but you'll never kill me".

But surely he was old enough to recall in Terminator II (or for that matter Part III) how Arnold Schwarzenegger (robot with human tissue) sacrificed his own existence so John and his mom could go back to live a normal life. But this movie never dwells on such matters. Conner later goes on to confess he can no longer tell who the real enemy is; as if this is the first time he (or anybody) encountered such a conundrum. This was already explored wonderfully in Terminator II, when Sarah Connor had to accept the evil Cyborg who killed her lover and almost killed her in Terminator 1, had now returned to save her life.

In fact true to his nature McG spends a good 15 minutes soon after depicting Conners actions to track down and recapture an escaping Marcus.

The ending leaves much to be desired. It all unravels too easily like a ball of yarn and, save for a well-done gimmick, single-handedly pulls the movie down. The fact of the matter is there seems an abundance of good ideas flying all over the place, but the director just cannot seem to give equal attention to all (given the time frame) and as a result the end product seems a little haphazard.

But what really stands out are the action sequences. Gripping narration and cinematography is suitably engrossing, allowing the audience to feel they're right in the middle of the action. Almost like a first person video game, something Alfonso Cuaron achieved with similar success in Children of Men. MCG scores well here and the first 30 minutes or so is superbly paced.

But for godssake why is this a PG-13 movie? Where is the gruesome violence from Terminator 1 and 2? I'm absolutely convinced certain scenes were excised to allow for a PG-13 certificate. There were at least 2 separate instances where there was jarring disjoint between two immediate scenes. And the climatic portions also seemed a little too mellow. Will have to keep an eye out for the directors cut DVD.

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Quick reviews - Star Trek and Angel & Demons

2009-05-18T16:32:00.013-04:00

* Spoilers follow. Proceed with caution
Star Trek

I've never been a trekkie. But I do recall glimpses of a few grainy episodes on the telly from years past, watching William Shatner as James T Kirk doing battle with a hideous monster in an unknown grey planet. Thinking back now, all I can reflect upon is the cheesy production values, Kirk's Yellow and Black tight space suit, Spock's weird eyebrows, space travel and the big-ass chair upon which Kirk often reclined whilst barking commands to avoid a missile directed at the star ship enterprise.

Flash forward to 2009 and J.J. Abrams new Star Trek retains most of the above elements but the visual effects and production values are far far better.

But this movie only serves as a first step towards Hollywood's need to re-build on a lost and broken franchise. I'm confident Abrams and his team have already begun working towards putting together the story-board for the second installment of the new Star Trek.

Abrams' story allows, for those relatively un-familiar with Star Trek, to find comfort with the motley crew of characters and universe within which it exists. It provides the back stories of Kirk and Spock and sets up a story which primarily serves to have all the recurring characters of Star Trek franchise meet and continue towards the many adventures which lay ahead.
Besides this basic goal of setting up the premise, the story offers no special plot. It plays around with the concept of time travel, time wraps, black hole, space beam etc most of which only make sense when taken with a grain of salt. In fact there was the one sequence of time travel (or whatever it was called) where the Spock of the future goes through a black hole ( atleast I think it was a black hole) and is some how mysteriously is captured by the villain Nero. That whole sequence left me quite confused, but I let it pass since it really does not in anyway interrupt the story arc. Through out the movie I was bothered by how the story sort of rubbished many scientific principles. For instance, for my own knowledge - Can there be an explosion in space? I mean with the lack of Oxygen and all. Maybe I'm just ignorant. Too many holes in this space opera. But its alright as long as it serves up the entertainment.

Eric Bana plays the villain Nero and plays it relatively straight thankfully, without too much scenery chewing. Bana is one of my favorite actors and he hasn't done much lately. Although I heard he helmed a documentary which was showed in the recently concluded Tribecca Film Festival - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1284028/

Angels & Demons

I'd given my 2 cents about this movie in an another blog, so I shan't go into great detail again. Its difficult to adapt a Dan Brown novel. His novels usually have multiple story lines and he masterly narrates these parallel story arcs, providing gripping action and lots of factual/semi-fictional details. True Page-turners. But Ron Howard somehow translates page-turners as the need to move things quickly! And so the necessary impact (tension) is lost.

The crux of the book, the conflict between Illuminati and the Vatican Church, plays a pivotal role, since the readers are led to believe, that the Illuminati has challenged the Church and Langdon (indirectly) to solve the clues to get to the ticking Anti-Matter time bomb and hopefully save the church in time. So when the twist arrives the readers are given quite a pleasant surprise. Somehow the movie misses this point and only gives a passing reference to the Illuminati and as a result we just don't get why Langdon chases down these clues with such vigour. I mean after all any reasonable chief of security would question the tenous involvement of the illuminati.

Anyhow most of the action is hurried. A sort of forced urgency on proceedings. Langdon must have a very sharp eye, cos he does not miss a single clue or fact or key information, without which he might as well been running in circles. The lead actress really has not purpose in the movie except running along with Langdon and providing as an outlet for Langdon to bombard her with meaningless historical lessons. Pray why does she have the secret journals of the murdered scientist flown to the Vatican? It serves no real purpose. And how could Stellan Skarsgard not know the Pope was poisoned? Didn't he mention he had installed secret cameras to watch the Pope? And you would think a high powered laboratory which produces a potentially extremely dangerous Anti-Matter would have some type of additional security? The audience aren't left to ponder on these points since Ron Howard ties loose ends quickly and dashes to the unsatisfying climax.

Another sub-par effort by Ron Howard and Tom Hanks. They haven't learned from the mistakes of Da Vinci Code.

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5 Minute Morning Routine

2009-05-13T18:23:00.007-04:00

Now normally I wouldn't go about posting video links under the guise of an actual blog entry, but thought I'd share this Youtube video which I found pretty funny.
Folks who have their own painful and time consuming morning routines before heading to work or school will be able to relate.
The whole tie-knot bit was just genius. Although you must've noticed the dude didn't shower. Hmm, would hate to be his cube-mate.

Enjoy

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Bring on the Indian Authors!

2009-04-30T12:25:00.010-04:00

The pre-release hype surrounding Dan Brown's new novel - The Lost Symbol, his follow-up to the immensely popular Da Vinci Code has begun. The tentative release date is September 15 but the AP wires are already reporting that pre-ordering sales has almost hit the roof.
I've always made it known that Dan Brown is one of my favorite writers. His books have been exciting and fast-paced (so far) almost to the point where you might incur a few paper cuts whilst turning those pages.
None can deny he has this gift and the ability to spin unique plots blended with just the right amount of non-fiction which in turn compels the readers to go about and do a little research on their own. And sure enough most of these supposed facts he brings to his stories are more closer to the truth than fiction And that's what really sells his books by the millions. A feeling that, by merely reading his book, we're being privy to some confidential information, and secrets of biblical magnitude.
He has created an entirely new sub-genre in terms of popular writing and I certainly can't wait to read the Lost Symbol, but at the same time have this nagging feeling that I might come away a lil disappointed. I mean can he actually do one better than the Da Vinci Code? Not that I think it was his best novel (that honor would go to Deception Point, inspite of factual flaws) but Dan Brown and The Da Vinci Code are nearly synonymous.

But keeping my fingers crossed. And you can tell they've planned this all well, by scheduling the release of the movie 'Angels and Demons' based on his earlier book around the same time. Clever marketing.

Dan Brown is among the few Non-Indian authors to capture my interest at this point. Quite surprising considering I've spent a good chunk of my adult life ignoring Indian authors. It almost has got to do with the kind of books you read as child. Growing up I remember being engrossed in Enid Blyton, The Hardy boys, The Three Investigators and other such books following similar themes and structures.
As time went by, I upgraded my choice of reading to Ian Fleming, Alistair Maclean, Fredrick Forsythe, Jeffrey Archer, Michael Crichton, John Grisham, in that order, whilst never ignoring classical writers like Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Daniel Dafoe, Alexandre Dumas, Guy de Maupassant and a whole host of western writers. The list is almost endless.

But in no way do I wish to give the impression that I think that, say, an Enid Blyton or an Alistair Maclean is any less of a writer than, say, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I'm certain, to many that may seem an absurd statement to make, but I have no reason to deny that I enjoyed reading their works as much any other author I've read as a grown-up.
Its quite natural human behaviour to have a revised opinion on the books you enjoyed as a child, when re-visited, with adult eyes, after many years. I would like to think I could still sit down and enjoy reading an another exciting adventure of the Famous Five or could perhaps even, capture a fraction of the trembling excitement I felt while reading Alistair Maclean's Golden Rendevouz for the first time but I realize that such things may not be possible.
Interestingly enough, I remember when I did read that book; back around 7th-8th grade, I recall being bed-ridden for a few days due to high fever, and that gave me the perfect opportunity to read three Maclean books - Golden Rendevouz, Caravan to Vacares and Fear is the Key, back to back, in the peace and quiet of my bedroom, with only the occasional interruption, of my mum coming in to check-up on me, meal time, and intermittent bouts of heavy sleeping. Good times.

I lost the habit of reading during Undergrad. Too many other new habits replaced books.
It wasn't until sometime in 2004/05 that I found the time and solitude to get back to reading. And that's when Dan Brown came along and almost instantly I was hooked; ferociously devouring each of his books along with Yann Martel's Life of Pi, Margaret Atwood's Blind Assassin and others. The works of Dan Brown and later the fantastic John LaCarre, quickly found its way to the top of my reading list. LaCarre especially proved a more than worthy replacement for Dan Brown, considering Brown's body of work, in terms of volume, pales in comparison with LaCarre. LaCarre with his precise, stylish, almost poetic language coupled with intriguing, complex story lines, is one of the most under-appreciated writers of our time.

But the one thing you should've noticed by now is the lack of presence of Indian Authors. Although I recall attempting to read Arundathi Roy's The God of all Small Things a while back and failing to get past page 30. But the seeds of interest were probably first sown when I read Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake and I was quietly drawn, not only to her concise yet engaging writing, but the very emotional resonance of her stories. I followed up with her other works Interpreter of Maladies and the more recent The Unaccustomed Earth, and both held me spellbound and satisfied. Its difficult to pinpoint exactly what connects me with her writing. Its a lot of little things, her minute observations, her simplicity of presentation or its probably the fact we share a common cultural bond.
I felt exactly the same way when I picked up R.K Narayan's classic Swami and Friends and couldn't put it down. An absolutely wonderful book for all ages. Written in simple, folksy prose, he magically transports us to a different place and time. I also read two other novels - Bachelor of Arts and The Sweet Vendor, both excellent and show his command on characterization and gentle story-telling. I'm was left craving for more. Kiran Desai's The Inheritance of Loss was also a good read, but not quiet in the same league as Lahiri or Narayan;s works.

Here is my current list of must read. I'm sure there will be more added on as time passes -

1)All books by R K Narayan
2) White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
3) Between the Assassinations by Aravind Adiga
4) Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
5) Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra
6) Select works of Sulman Rushdie (Midnight's Children, The Ground beneath her feet)
7) Select works of Vikram Seth
8) Select works of Ruskin Bond

This past month I'd also completed Vikas Swarup's new novel - The Six Suspects. More on that later.

So for now all I can say is -Bring on the Indian Authors!

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My Music Blog

2009-04-22T13:22:00.017-04:00

A blog for music now? Well, Movies, Music and Sports have always remained my three lifelines. Every memory I hold and cherish is primarily associated to one of these three lifelines. Reading and writing complete the top 5. And since I'm trying to organize my thoughts on movies and sports into 2 separate blogs, its only fair that music gets its own space.

Music always had the power to bring back memories.
For instance, every time I hear the song 'Shine' by Collective Soul, my mind drifts back to 1993/94 and all the little things associated with that time period - the lame ass T.V we had in our bedroom (parents had the better one in their room), the dark grayish trousers I used to wear all the time, my American cousins trip to Madras for the first time in years (I hadn't seen them in 8 years) and how excited I was to have them around and how proudly I showed off that we now had M.T.V (Music TeleVision) on Doordarshan! And speaking of MTV (and permit me to reminisce a bit) I remember it was highly controversial when it first came along with STAR TV package and was later taken off after much brouhaha, due to its risque' music videos and replaced with a more mellowed, conservative Channel V. Funny how 14 years later we see music videos which are 5x more risque playing 24/7 on Indian television channels. Time changes everything.
Almost a year later after it was booted off the STAR TV Package, MTV made a comeback on Doordarshan. DD2 to be precise. I distinctly remember reading a column on the Hindu titled - Sleeping with the Enemy, which moaned about DoorDarshan's poor choice of partners and I could only chuckle to myself. I was excited! I could finally get to see MTV!! Imagine! Finally the possibility of watching naked women! Wet, naked, blonde, white women (or women of any color to be honest)! Or so I was incorrectly informed back then. But could a guy my age ask for anything more!?! Remember this was 1993, the PC & Internet revolution was yet to come, in fact I didn't even know a word such as Internet or Web existed, and MTV presented probably the only avenue to explore the evil side. The curiosity to explore the fairer sex in its most natural form.
The possibility of listening to some great music was least of my priorities. Only later did I realize that the MTV shown on DoorDarshan was heavily censored, monitored and a rather toned down version of its self. And probably I'd expected a little too much from those videos in the first place. After all MTV did break barriers but were never pornographic.

Recall a young Rahul Khanna, one of the first Indian VJ's, being so cool, laid-back, self-assured and cocky. Having watched him come on the telly everyday,I'm certain, I must have sub-consciously, mimicked his behavior in some ways, and definitely in terms of arm movements, slowing down my speed of talking so I could be understood by others (although there are times even these days that I talk too fast to be understood), and of course a sorta mixed Hindi-American accent (which continues even today).
MTV definitely broadened my horizons and taste in music. From Collective Soul to REM, from Beastie Boys to Snoop Dogg to ENIGMA to Guns N Roses, Gangsta Rap, Hard Rock, Metal Rock, World Music, I experienced the diversity of music in terms of form, presentation and attitude but united and propelled together by basic concept of melody and rhythm.
My life was never the same and I continue to dive into this Ocean of Music. MTV also exposed me to the music video culture. At its height they represented a creative genre - longer than an advertisement but shorter than a feature, they provided the ideal avenue to present content in a hip, stylish, edgy manner. But its gone downhill quickly since. These days I rarely bother watching music videos. They take so much away from the quality of music, with its prosaic, repetitious, tiresome ideas and presentation, which almost always hinders the flow of the song. Its true that music is best seen with ears.

With regards to the non-existent skin show? Well the disappointment in MTV quickly washed away and STAR Movies was on its way..

What is Rahul Khanna doing these days? Last saw him playing an overly emotional, romantic, weakling in the hindi movie - Dil Kabbadi. Never did get that foot into Bollywood, despite coming from a family of actors and having performed quite competently in 1947-Earth and Hollywood/Bollywood (or was it the other way around) both under the able direction of Deepa Mehta.Pity, cos he has a lot to offer.

But coming back to music; music has always been an important facet in my life; more so than the pleasure one derives from listening, but also what the song/music represents. My mind has always associated music with memories. So in a way, music plays the role of a pointer (C++ reference), a sort of key to hidden, locked away memories, from a different time period or era.
For instance, A.R Rahman's Taal, his composition Taal se Taal Mila, (REMIX) takes me back to 1999, my times with NIIT friends, discovering Bombay Chaat house (aka Bombay Halwa house) right outside NIIT. Bunk class to attend the rehearsals for the NEXUS culturals at buddy Nagaraj's terrace, sitting on the parapet, watch the girls and (the two guys) practice their routines with gusto (to the above mentioned REMIX) and would later sponsor their dinners at some nearby eatery. I also remember growing in love with the song Kahin Aag Lage, from the same album, after having listened to it a 100 times on my Walkman. This was of course when we listened to music on cassette tapes. If you had to re-listen to a song you had to rewind it all over again.

Kids have it so easy nowadays don't you think? Going a bit off the tangent here. But they don't have to strain themselves with simple, menial tasks such as rewinding a cassette tape. They might not be even aware such tasks or technological issues existed.
If you want to hear a particular song, you just skip to it. If you want to hear it again and again, press a button and poof, it repeats endlessly.
You want to watch a T.V show without interruptions? Easy. Just DVR it and skip the damn commercials.
Want to watch a movie without paying for it? Just download a HQ DVD print from the Internet or watch it online. And it only takes a few hours to download it so there really is no waiting time.
Like a song and want to own it? Scan i-tunes store or any of the other countless mp3 websites and you can own your song for a few cents.
Want to compile your own collection of songs into one play list? Just drag and drop the songs into a fucking play list. Boom you're done. We called it mixed tapes and it took hours to get one recorded.
And you can have a customized play list for every occasion - one for while you're working out, while you're driving, while you eat dinner, while you're on a train/subway, when you're walking on the street by yourself and feeling lonely, when you're walking on the street and you are pissed. So on and so forth. You name it.
Feel like reading a book? Look for it online and you'll probably find a free version.
Want to capture a beautiful painting in the sky, filled with a glorious tinge of orange surrounded with the metallic silver/grey lining of clouds and just the hint of the sun hidden away. Well you don't have to stand there and try to memorize every color, every nuance, every frame into your mind and pray that you'll remember it when you want to see it again. Instead you can take out your high resolution camera phone or your digital camera and shoot away.

Internet and Technology have changed the way we look at things and how we go about our daily lives. I don't dislike the comfort technology brings me today. It allows me the convenience of doing things faster. And better. But I can put it in perspective since I've seen both worlds and I know the effort I've gone through to achieve those small tokens of happiness. I remember, I used to listen to music on the radio, on the FM Channel, and I had to wait for my favorite song to come on so I could record it. If not for radio, there was just one store I knew of, which had a good collection of western music. I'd mark down the songs which I want recorded and the guy in the store would charge Rs.100 per tape.
Now, we have wonderful websites like Pandora, which not only help you listen to the song you're looking for, but categorize and classify that song, based on certain parameters, patterns, structures and play all songs which confirm to those parameters. Essentially helping you identify songs you might like hear even if you've never heard it before. Amazing! I wonder if kids these days will ever appreciate how easy they have it.

I'll set up the music blog link shortly.

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The World of Mac Vs PC

2009-04-21T13:08:00.015-04:00

I agree. Apple is the leader in terms of product innovation and creativity. Hands down. The I-Pod, I-Phone, Mac books and a string of other technological advancements have truly put the world into the palms of every user. These gadgets with their sleek, ultra modern designs, carefully crafted and completely user-friendly, after years of product and consumer research. No doubt Apple should be proud of their efforts and rewarded for the same. Heck, I own two I-Pods and I think they're one of the greatest innovations of this century.

So I have nothing personal against the products themselves.

Just with the way Apple tries to sell them. That's what really gets my blood boiling; their effort to make every Apple product as a must-have. A sort of - 'If you don't own an I-Phone or say a mac book, well then you just aren't cool enough or are a loser' attitude.
The Mac Vs PC commercials which are ubiquitous on television epitomize this sort of superficial (for a lack of a better word) premise.

Yes, everybody would love to own a I-Pod (and most probably do) and everybody would love to own those fancy looking laptops (Mac Air they are called I believe) but the obnoxious pricing set by Apple would preclude most average (and sensible might I add) folks from purchasing them. Yet it pains me to see folks who live check to check, month-to-month, go out of their way and buy these gadgets. Its the oldest trap in the world. To buy something expensive to fulfill your own sense of importance. This of course does not apply to people who have the money to do as they wish. This also does not apply if you buy any product for exactly what it is. For instance, I bought an I-Pod since it allowed me to personalize and carry my music wherever I am, not to show people I own an I-Pod, I might buy a painting (expensive or not) which brings some semblance of peace or pleasure to me personally, but not as a piece to brag and show off to my peers. You get my point. The whole premise of trying to heighten your self importance by 'purchasing' or 'buying' something appears foolish to me. I could own the Mona Lisa, but how am I contributing to the art world by merely owning the Mona Lisa? No, I believe only its creator and the painting itself is of any value. I play the role of no more than a placeholder..

If I take the argument one level further - It appears Coolness and Brand name usually go hand in hand. But does it really?

I mean after all if I go out a shell out $80 grand and buy myself a brand new Maserati, well then of course, I'll be the coolest cat on the block and the center of all the attention. Because that's how the Maserati brand is built up.

Its all just the perception of being cool. The real winner is the producer of Maserati who pockets your $80K, on a no doubt, highly priced, but exclusive motor vehicle. Don't get me wrong though -its a one fine motor vehicle.
But I could never wrap myself around that concept. If you were truly cool and confident in your individuality, why would you have to pay such a high price (or any price for that matter) to be accepted by others? To be recognized for your 'coolness'.

That's what bugs me about Apple, or any other seller who trick individuals into believing that by buying what they are selling, you automatically become a better person. A more cooler person. And we unfortunately live in a society where such exhibition of money is a quickshot way to get noticed.

"Oh my god, look he's driving a Cadillac Escalade" Or any other fancy vehicle which is the flavor of the moment.

Look I don't mind luxury. And I certainly hope I don't come across as some sort of communist ranting pig. If you honestly feel that a Cadillac Escalade is THE best car in the block and you find true pleasure in manning that particular vehicle, then good on you mate. I have no issues. Again I don't want to come off as trying to dictate how people should live and what they should buy and so on. Just my personal observations and comments. But I'm not going to buy the fact that a more expensive car is simply a better car. No sir, I just can't accept that. I guess its my middle-class, brahmanical outlook on life.

This idea has been tormenting me for years now, when I was probably in 1st year of undergrad, where probably for the first time, I was introduced into the world of upper-class, luxury life-style. I heard about how one of my friend's uncle had paid a one time fee of Rs.10 Lakh to join a prestigious club (the Madras Cricket Club), in addition to a hefty monthly membership fee. Quite a substantial amount (unless of course converted to dollars). My friend then went on about describing the MCC as the playground of the rich and the famous of the Chennai elite. I felt how exciting it would be to be part of this elite crowd. But then after some time (a few months later) I realized that there really is no point in 'paying' yourself into eliteness. You can't buy cool. You can't buy self-confidence. Yes you could well throw money around (if you have it) and buy yourself your 15-minutes of the spotlight. But it does not last.

It only reminds me of those relatively unknown faces who clamor for the gossip columns, those Page-3 types, as we call em back home, who inexplicably are seen in all the right places, grand opening of any restaurant, museum, new hip night-clubs, any over glorified tea shop etc. They live for the sole purpose of attention. They breathe and thrive on publicity and recognition. They sicken me with their presence. They have nothing useful to contribute to others or to society except promoting themselves.

So the reason I went into this long diatribe is because I saw that Apple has today released another batch of Buy Mac Ads. Some of the Ads were funny to begin with, a sort of friendly banter, between Mac and PC. But the ads now are mostly unfunny in its caricatures and have reached beyond their point of welcome.

Here's the link - http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/

I know they are only ads, and meant for fun. But I guess I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, and had to rant about some of the things wrong in this world

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P.S. I've never owned a Mac, all though I was pretty close to buying one in 2006. I've been happy with my Dell PC. And I constantly look up amazing configurations available now in laptops, in terms of processing speed, RAM and storage space, which were not available upto a few years ago - all under $1000. So why is the base price of any MAC laptop with an ordinary configuration above $1000? I agree Windows Vista has its share of many bugs and crashes. But if the reports on the new Windows 7 is anything to go by, MAC better watch out.

Bala's Naan Kadavul - Disappoints

2009-04-17T15:25:00.021-04:00

Tamil movie director Bala is an eccentric genius. His movies are uniquely offbeat and to many he paved the way for the re-emergence of neo-realism in tamil movies providing an effective counter to the popular commercial 'masala' movies produced and which continue to dominate Kollywood. In the process he directly inspired several other new directors such as Ameer Sultan (Raam, Paruthiveeran) and Sasikumar (Subramaniapuram) , Selvaraghavan (Kadhal Kondein, 7G Rainbow Colony, Pudhupettai) amongst others to explore and bring out a freshness in terms of presentation, story-telling, dialogue etc. Bala's movies like Sethu, Nandha and Pithamagan were path breaking in terms of conceptualization and picturization, with the undercurrent of rawness and rage dictating the proceedings in each movie, striking a chord with the audience (and me personally). And his stories have no qualms about dealing with the characters outside the normal realm of Indian society and primarily present how the society deals with such individuals; for instance Sethu dealt with how society treat mentally unstable people, Nandha tackled the issue of juvenile criminals and Pithamagan had the audience mesmerized and empathize with an animalistic crematory caretaker. Highly unconventional indeed and as mentioned above simmering with anti-establishment fervour.

For instance here is a clip from the movie Pithamagan, where Vikram plays an individual who lacks social skills (for lack of better description) and is probably only a few notches above a savage animal, who beats up a couple of jail wardens and their enforcers in a prison!

The sheer raw anger and Vikram's powerful intensity in terms of body language (won him a national award) makes this an unforgettable scene in Tamil movie history.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAOFld8cIcE

The success of Bala also provided the much needed break through for actors Vikram and Suriya (who were yet to establish themselves at that time) and helped them become the superstars they are today. However nothing was to beat the hype of director Bala himself, how he simply could not put a foot wrong, and his near 3 year production of 'Naan Kadavul' ( I am God) was eagerly awaited as the next masterpiece from the master.

But Naan Kadavul fails to create the same impact like Pithamagan. It starts off fine recounting the story of Rudran (played ably by Arya) who was left to fend for himself from a young age when his superstitious father abandoned him in Kasi due to some silly astrological reasons. When the father (after 14 years) realizes the folly of his deed, he goes back to Kasi in search of his young boy, only to find, to his dismay, that his son is now a Aghori saint, a recluse, who has acquired seemingly divine strength and knowledge through years of yogic meditation and intense Aghori training. Of course Rudran wants nothing to do with his family; "He is now a Aghori" whispers a trembling priest " they do not associate with this mortal world" he warns. Nevertheless Rudran reluctantly relents and travels back to his home town after heeding to his guru.

It is around here that Naan Kadavul starts to flounder. The aftermath of Rudran returning to his hometown and his dealing with the family would have on its own strength provided for riveting viewing, but alas Bala decides to switch tracks and shifts his attention to a rag-tag bunch of beggars, most of them either handicapped or freaks of nature (since they earn more) and the harsh conditions to which they are subject to by the beggar-mafia, ruled with an iron-fist by the cruel and equally cruel looking Thandavan. Bala introduces a blind girl (Fantastic performance by Pooja) with a beautiful singing voice, who is forcibly separated from her family of travelling artists, by one of Thandavan's goons, with the help of the local police, and thrown alongside the above mentioned rag-tag group of beggars, adds some macabre humor and bingo, you have, what can only be described as one "weird movie-going experience".

The entire second act, with the focus on the beggars and their universe makes for unpleasant viewing. Although history has taught us that Bala seems to derive sadistic pleasure from depicting unpleasantness. While it does not have the shock value of Slumdog Millionaire, nevertheless it is quiet disturbing. The third act, the decisive conclusion, where we expect Rudran (who was virtually absent from the second act either smoking the magic pipe to the chants of 'Jai Bholenath' or out cold) to save these beggars from their misery with a bang but ends with a whimper, all un-subtle symbolisms aside. Once again Bala misses a trick by tying things up rather abruptly. Pity, cos Thandavan deserved a more cruel death.

An engrossing beginning, Arya impresses with his presence, a meandering second half, sparkled with bits genuine dark humor, great performance by Pooja, and a frustrating conclusion. Overall disappointing.

Here is a review by the noted critic - Bharadwaj Ranjan of the Indian Express and I was happy to find atleast one other person who was equally let down by Naan Kadavul as I was.

http://www.desipundit.com/baradwajrangan/2009/02/12/conversation-with-the-creator-of-naan-kadavul/

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

2009-01-30T13:29:00.008-05:00

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

Nav

A Desi State of Mind

2009-01-21T12:01:00.011-05:00

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

Nav

Oscars 2009

2009-01-20T00:49:00.011-05:00

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

2009-01-09T13:31:00.016-05:00

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

2009-01-08T20:10:00.008-05:00

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)

2009-01-07T12:54:00.016-05:00

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.

Oscar Picks-2008

2008-02-24T15:14:00.005-05:00

So let's get to it. With the 80th Annual Academy awards just a few hours around the corner, I think now is the right time to squeeze in my annual picks before the eventual winners are revealed to the world.

I'm not going to dwell with much verbiage. To be honest, the Oscars just do not seem to carry the same excitement or importance like it used to in the past. And rightly so, with more than half-a-dozen award ceremonies prior to the Oscars, and where most often than not, winners in those awards are duly honored by academy. So pray, where is the unpredictability?

But I must admit, as an avid movie-watcher, this has been a good year. The body of work produced this year, whether they received a nomination or not, has been fantastic. And that for every Spiderman-III, Hostel-II or Transformers, there is an No Country for Old Men, Juno, Michael Clayton, Atonement and many more. Hollywood is alive and well, and quite amazingly always seems to maintain that fine balance between art & commercialism. Only hope the Indian movie industry will one day be able to display such diversity and maturity.

And Hope is a good thing.

Anyhow, here are my picks for this year.

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR:-

1)Atonement (2007): Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Paul Webster - Good movie. Wrong Year.
2)Juno (2007): Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick, Russell Smith - Fresh and indulging. But not quite ready to take the big one.
3)Michael Clayton (2007): Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox, Kerry Orent - Tight, crisp & effective. My kind of movie.
4)No Country for Old Men (2007): Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Scott Rudin - WINNER
5)There Will Be Blood (2007): Paul Thomas Anderson, Daniel Lupi, JoAnne Sellar - Haven't watched.Probably the only movie which can stop the 'No country for Old men' momentum. And it probably cannot.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE :-

1)George Clooney for Michael Clayton (2007) - Like the movie, a quiet & effective performance but cannot stop the Daniel Day-Lewis juggernaut.
2)Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood (2007) - WINNER
3)Johnny Depp for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)- Unusual role. Deserved the nomination. Third time unlucky.
4)Tommy Lee Jones for In the Valley of Elah (2007) - Surprise nomination. kudos.
5)Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises (2007) - Brilliant performance, but early theatrical release has definitely hurt his chances. Plus Daniel Day-Lewis is going to win.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:-

1)Cate Blanchett for Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) - Have not seen. And not enough firepower to upstage Julie Christie.
2)Julie Christie for Away from Her (2006) - WINNER
3)Marion Cotillard for Môme, La (2007) - Haven't seen, but based on rave reviews seem to threaten Julie Christie's sure hand.
4)Laura Linney for The Savages (2007) - Happy for her nomination. She is a solid, underrated actor & usually never disappoints. I'm happy that the academy had the conviction to back her performance and she is definitely going to win in the near future.
5)Ellen Page for Juno (2007) - Personally did not find anything spectacular about her performance. Quirky. Very well written character.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:-

1)Casey Affleck for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) - Haven't seen. But is turning out to be fine young actor based on his performance in Gone Baby Gone. Watch out for this guy.
2)Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men (2007) - WINNER
3)Philip Seymour Hoffman for Charlie Wilson's War (2007) - Good performance. Funny and dramatic all at once. Pretty awesome year and one of the powerhouse actors in the years to come.
4)Hal Holbrook for Into the Wild (2007) - Emotional favorite. But can't beat Javier Bardem.
5)Tom Wilkinson for Michael Clayton (2007) - Steady performance. Sometimes its key to blend in with the movie. Tom Wilkinson excels in such roles.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:-

1)Cate Blanchett for I'm Not There. (2007) - Is the 20th century academy ready to embrace independent movies? If yes, then cate blanchett should be the automatic choice. But I dont think the academy voters are there yet. Sad to see Cate Blanchett lose two for two.
2)Ruby Dee for American Gangster (2007) - Emotional Favorite to win. WINNER
3)Saoirse Ronan for Atonement (2007) - Beautiful performance considering her age. Age and overall lackluster excitement generated by Atonement may well lead to her not winning the award.
4)Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone (2007). Effective potrayal of grief stricken mom. Not enough publicity though.
5)Tilda Swinton for Michael Clayton (2007). Michael Clayton is saddled with acting nominations. Tilda Swinton has done better work for no recognition whatsoever. So I think she'll take the nomination.

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING :-

1)Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood (2007) - One of my favorite directors. Complete change in directional style for this movie. Maybe in another year would've been a sure shot.
2)Ethan Coen, Joel Coen for No Country for Old Men (2007) - WINNER
3)Tony Gilroy for Michael Clayton (2007) - Screenwriter turned director. Looks extremely promising.
4)Jason Reitman for Juno (2007) - Riding the independent wave. Will crash and burn against the fantastic Coen Brothers.
5)Julian Schnabel for Scaphandre et le papillon, Le (2007) - Have not seen the movie. Heard good things. On my must-watch list.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen:-

1)Juno (2007): Diablo Cody - WINNER
2)Lars and the Real Girl (2007): Nancy Oliver- Have not seen. reviews praise unique storyline.
3)Michael Clayton (2007): Tony Gilroy - Tense, terse yet multi-layered story.
4)Ratatouille (2007): Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco - I loved this movie. If only the academy showed animation more respect. After all this was one of the highest grossing movies in 07'..
5)The Savages (2007): Tamara Jenkins - Not quite.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published :-

1)Atonement (2007): Christopher Hampton - Atonement was one of my favorite movies of the year. Difficult story to adapt, but the movie & screenplay dove deep into the emotional core of the movie, of love and war. Fantastic effort. You've won my oscar. If that counts for anything.
2)Away from Her (2006): Sarah Polley - Have not seen. Cannot Comment. Heard good things.
3)Scaphandre et le papillon, Le (2007): Ronald Harwood - Have not seen. Cannot comment.
4)No Country for Old Men (2007): Joel Coen, Ethan Coen - Effective adaptation.
5)There Will Be Blood (2007): Paul Thomas Anderson - WINNER. Sticking my neck out here.

Good Luck.

Nav

P.S- As an afterthought, to satisfy my own curiosity, I compared my picks (see two posts below) to that of the academy. Out of the possible fourty predictions across eight categories, I had 7 wrong predictions. One wrong pick in each of the categories except the best original screenplay and Best supporting actor categories (where I had pegged all correct) and Best adapted screenplay (where I had two wrong). That roughly translates to 17.5 % of my forecasts being incorrect. Now that is the kind of odds which I need to improve upon. Imagine if I were in the business of buying and selling stocks & bonds. With that %age of wrong choices, I would be soon find myself filing for unemployment.

New York Giants - 2008 NFC Champions

2008-01-22T18:33:00.000-05:00

Congratulations Eli Manning and the Giants - 2008 NFC Champions and possible Superbowl contenders (But lets try to keep calm about it).

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! (Okay, I'm done).

Its been a long, long time since any sporting team I've supported with such passion has actually gone onto win big. The fact they face Tom Brady and the cold, ruthless New England Patriot killing machine two weeks from now in a superbowl showdown bears no relevance. Nobody expected the Giants make it this far. Nobody. The folks over at Fox Sports routinely picked opposition teams over the Giants & criticized Eli Manning at every given opportunity, especially when early into the season the Giants got off to a horrendous start by losing to Dallas and Green Bay. But how well have they come back from that start and almost in a karmic sense finish off their playoff games by beating both Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay (under sub-zero conditions).

Credit to Eli Manning who displayed increasing level of maturity under fire, offensive coach, Kevin Gilbride, who showed aggressive intent and confidence in calling plays involving young guns including rookie wide receiver, Steve Smith and the diminutive yet dangerous Ahmad Bradshaw who established a solid running game for the Giants on key plays. It was crucial for such players, being unknown quantities, to come off the bench and show their mettle, given that lead play-maker Plaxico Burress was fighting a strained ankle almost the entire season, and the absence of veteran tight-end and emotional core of the New York Giants, Jeremy Shockey, due to a season ending injury.

But it was defensive coach,Steve Spagnoulo, and the incredible NY Giants defense which stepped up, and by more than a few notches (beginning that 3rd Quarter vs. Redskins) . The team never looked back. Time and time again, the NY Giants defense broke out tremendous plays and stopped opposition offense cold in their tracks which helped Eli & the boys get back on the field. Osi Umenyiora, Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck, Antonio Pierce and Cornerback comback-kid Corey Webster, just to name a few among the many who played strong and hard and gave this fighting team a chance at every opportunity. Good show. God Bless.

Go Giants!

watch Buress highlights from NFC Championships - http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d806219dd

Manning highlights from NFC Championships - http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80621d11

Game day highlights - http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d806235fe

Post game press conference highlights - http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80622efa

Nav

Oscar Predictions 2008

2008-01-20T23:17:00.000-05:00

Every year I go through this ritual of picking my oscars predictions and more often than not these predictions stand up pretty well when compared the actual oscar nominations.

But, this year it has been particularly difficult to predict which way the academy would go. There have been so many movies and strong performances which have been of the highest order, resulting in stiff competition in almost every major category, and the Academy would find itself in an un-enviable position of having to decide which of those top-notch productions/performances would have to be left out. For instance, Philip Seymour Hoffman had an amazing year showcasing his acting abilities in three very diverse roles- Before the devil knows you are dead, The Savages & Charlie Wilson's War. In any other year he would've been nominated for best actor in a lead role for any of those performances, but this year he may well have to settle for best supporting role in Charlie Wilson's War.

So having said that, here are my predictions -

Best Motion Picture
1) Atonement
2) No country for old men
3) Juno
4) Eastern Promises
5) There will be Blood

A tricky category. The key nomination here is Atonement. People and critics have either loved it or panned it. It'll be interesting to see if the Academy gets carried away with the buzz generated by Atonement in the current awards season. I personally liked the movie, and in the past, the academy have been rather kind to such emotional dramas (especially british productions). So I'm going with my gut feeling that Atonement would be a key nomination in most categories. That'll leave no place for 'Into the wild' (excellent directorial debut of oscar winner sean penn--which I havent seen, but the book was an un-inspiring read) , 'Michael Clayton' and over-hyped 'American Gangster' (which I felt was a stale and dreadfully predictable piece of film-making).

My task was made much easier given that three of best movies of the year would get slotted into the Best Foreign Motion picture category - 'The Kite Runner'(wonderful adaptation of the Khaled Hossseini's heart-wrenching novel of the same name) , 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly' and Ang Lee's provocative 'Lust, Caution'.

Best Actor in a lead role-

1) Daniel Day Lewis - There will be Blood
2) Johnny Depp - Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
3) James McAvoy - Atonement
4) George Clooney - Michael Clayton
5) Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises

Daniel Day-Lewis has stormed into contention with his dynamic potrayal of multi-layered, complex Daniel Plainview. George Clooney has been a shoo-in since the the release of Michael Clayton. However, the same can't be said of Denzel Washington who riveted audiences with his performance in American Gangster, but since then the buzz has slowly faded and would surely die down by the time oscars nominations are announced. Instead I feel the academy would go with Johnny Depp's earnest effort in 'Sweeny Todd:The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'. Depp once again impresses and shows his versatile range and depth to his acting skills. He is the probably the only actor who seamlessly transitions into varied roles. Unlucky to miss out - Emile Hirsche's brilliant performance in 'Into the Wild'.

Best Actress in a lead role -

1) Julie Christie - Away from Her
2) Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth II- The Golden Age
3) Marion Cotillard - La Mome'
4) Ellen Page - Juno
5) Kiera Knightley - Atonement

Kiera Knightley for atonement? Hmm, it was between Kiera Knightley, Angelina Jolie (for 'A mighty Heart') and Jodie Foster ('The Brave One'). Unlucky to miss out - Laura Linney who provides a credible performance in the Savages

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

1) Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
2) Casey Affleck - Asssassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
3) Philip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War
4) Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton
5) Hal Holbrook - Into the Wild

Probably the only category where every actor was a lock as soon as the movies hit the big screens. I'd be very surprised if these were not the final nominees. Unlucky to miss out - Tommy Lee Jones for 'No Country for Old Men'

Best actress in a supporting Role
1) Cate Blanchett - I'm not there
2) Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton
3) Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
4) Catherine Keener - Into the Wild
5) Saoirse ronan - Atonement

Difficult category, although i'm certain the top three are sure picks. Catherine Keener sizzles in her performance in Into the Wild. Unlucky to miss out - Ruby Dee, the veteran actress for her role in American Gangster.

Best director
1) Joe wright - Atonement
2) Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
3) Ethan & Joel Cohen - No Country for Old Men
4) Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton
5) Paul Thomas Anderson - There will be Blood

Is it possible to pick a director but not his/her creation? I mean how could they competing for the best when their product or work of art is not equally competing in their respective categories either? Case in point - Julian Schnabel. Interesting question for which I have no definite answer.

Best Original Screenplay -

1) Juno -
2) Michael Clayton
3) The Savages
4) Ratoutille
5) Lars and the Real Girl

Best Adapted Screenplay
1) Atonement
2) No Country for Old Men
3) There will be Blood
4) The Kite Runner
5) Charlie Wilson's War

Unlucky to lose out - Into the Wild, but boy what a category this would turn out to be.

Nav

2007-07-09T03:15:00.001-04:00

I love sports. Anybody, and I mean anybody who knows me, knows it. I dish out statistics on cue, narrate sporting events with appropriate accuracy and intensity and draw parallels between game situations and real-life issues generously in everyday conversations.

But alas, ladies and gents, I am cursed by the sporting gods for I cannot make a winning prediction or get the teams I chose to win. Not even to save my own life!

I've suspected of this curse for years now, but frankly its getting worse every year.

Here is evidence from this past year -

1) NBA Finals (2006) :- Phoenix suns and Dallas Mavericks are two of the few teams I root for in the NBA. And they met in the Western Conference finals. I picked and hoped Suns to win, but they lost and Dallas proceeded to the Championship finals where they played against the Miami Heat (whom I detest despite the presence of D.Wade). I'd hoped either Suns or Mavericks to win the championship and yes you guessed it - Miami beat Dallas in the finals.

2) FIFA Soccer World Cup (2006) - The teams I root for (the reasons why will be explained in a separate post) - England & Argentina ( and in that order). Both teams, especially England, fielding probably their best teams on paper. Both teams qualify to the Quarterfinals where they lose to Portugal and Germany respectively. Gaah. And with that Q.final defeat, ended the world cup dreams of David Beckham and a host of other England superstars. The finals was played between Italy and France. I picked France, primarily b'cos I'm a huge fan of Zinedine Zidane. Long story short - France lost and Zidane was sent off after being given the red card for the headbutting incident.

3) MLB (Baseball 2006) - I'm a big New York Yankees fan. They struggled the first part of the season, but thanks to A-rod and Giambi and some great ball play all around in the second part of the regular season, Yankees went on to over-take the Boston Redsox to win the AL East Division and seemed poised to make it to the ALCS and who knows, maybe even the World Series. But in order to get there, they had to get past Detroit Tigers in the Divisional Series. Easy eh? Not quite. Yankees lost 3-1 in the 5 game series. And another year went by without winning the championship. Other teams I followed namely - NY Mets, San Deigo Padres and Cleveland Indians all LOST.

4) NFL (Football -2006) - Again, since being from the Jersey/NY area, I'm a big follower of the New York Giants (who incidentally play in the Giants Stadium located in jersey). I had this gut feeling that this would be their year. They had all the right ammunition to go all the way. They went all the way allright - all the way back home where they got front row seats to watch Indianapolis Colts play Chicago Bears at the Superbowl. Disappointing since at one point during the season they had a 5-2 record. And then they just fizzled out. Amazing. Other teams I followed, including San Deigo Chargers also lost.

5) ICC Cricket World Cup (2007) - India, England, New Zealand & Sri Lanka in that order. And India looked like a team which could potentially beat Australia and take it to the next level after their superb 2003 WC campaign. They had the depth in batting and their bowling should be ideally suited to West Indian pitches.All those hopes (& hype) blown away when India lost to Bangladesh and Srilanka in the group stages to crash out of the world Cup. They were joined by their equally illustrious northern neighbors, Pakistan, which precluded the possibility of the much awaited world cup clash between the rivals and almost at once the tournament lost much of its charm and was reduced itself to mediocrity. If the ICC had any common sense, they would have called off the world cup & promptly handed over the trophy to Australia. It has ofcourse been long established that they do not have the above mentioned common sense.
New Zealand and England crashed out in subsequent stages. Watching England wheeze & crawl through the group stages was a severe test to the endurance levels of the fans and viewers alike, akin to stabbing oneself with a fork. A blunt fork. Repeatedly.

6) NBA (baskeball-2007) - Ah, a complete cycle. And with every winter comes spring! A time for flowers to bloom again and life rejuvenated. A quick look to see how some of the teams I picked performed -

Phoenix Suns - Lost in the second round of the playoffs
Dallas Mavericks - Lost in the first round of the Playoffs
Detroit Pistons - Lost in the Eastern Division Conference finals.
NBA Finals - San Antonio Vs Cleveland Cavaliers. I picked Cavaliers. They lost 4-0.

So much for Spring and winter and all that nonsense.

Could there be some sort of explanation to what's been happening? I believe there is. The underdogs dont seem to be winning anymore. Stay tuned.

To be Continued.

Oscar Predictions - 2006

2007-01-20T19:55:00.000-05:00

Well here we are again, with my annual list of oscar predictions. And with every passing year, I feel a growing lack of enthusiasm for an event I once, eagerly looked forward to. I guess its cos of a variety of reasons. When I was younger and in India, I just did not have the opportunity nor the avenue to watch mature, sensible movies, the ones which usually end up being nominated for the big awards. Afterall, in India, its the commercial value of a movie which is taken into consideration before a movie is released. So a movie like say, Anaconda, would receive an almost immediate and enthusiastic thumbs-up from the Indian film distributors and theater owners but other worthy movies like - L.A. Confidential would be met with guarded skepticism.

Infact most of such movies were usually released depending on how well they did at the oscars. I remember watching movies like LA confidential, American Beauty, Saving Private Ryan etc. most of which was shown for not more than a week, and primarily because they won the Oscar. And isn't that the reason why Oscars were introduced in the first place - as a marketing tool for movies? Except now we, as the audience, watch the movie expecting it to be good (it has won the oscar, right) and this expectation may or may not ruin the movie. I remember going into Shakespeare in Love with great expectations and coming out in a coma. But that's a different story.

All that changed, however, when I moved to the US. Now I had the opportunity to watch any and all movies I wanted to. One of the advantages of being close to a city like New york. And it was here, I began to 'critically' watch movies, and developed a keen interest in movies which ordinarily I would skip, movies like Far from Heaven, or the Others. It was around here, I began to develop a certain awareness of what a good movie should be and ought to be, and the key elements a critical jury, or reviewer would look at, the look and feel of the movie and the way certain movies were tagged and marketed as potential oscar winners as early as august or september.
But on the flip side, being exposed to all these movies beforehand and the way they are marketed, and the prolifiteration of awards, took away most of the suspense from the Oscars, as most avid movie watchers could predict with a certain degree of assurance, the movies which would be nominated and eventually win.

Which brings us to the year 2006/07. A pretty ordinary year when compared to previous years. I personally feel they're only a handful of movies which can be classified as oscar-worthy, and this year it'll be more of a challenge to figure out what goes in rather than what does not. Let me explain - In other years the competition was quite stiff, and there were so many good performances and movies that the academy faced quite a challenge to decide which ones DO NOT get the nod. Selection by elimination, if you may. But this year, its quite the opposite, where I feel, they are challenged to find good performances to fill out the mandatory five nominations.

Here are my predictions :-

Best film -
1) Dreamgirls
2) Babel
3) Departed
4) Two letters from iwo jima
5) Little children

I haven't watched Dreamgirls yet. So I cannot say if it should win although they're many out there who say it definitely should. Same for Two letters from Iwo Jima. Babel is a good, solid movie and definitely one of Innaritu's best works. Departed may not represent Scorcese's best work, but it was definitely a thrilling and engrossing drama till the ending which kinda ruined it for me. Little Children is a fantastic movie, with a surprisingly strong story and heartfelt performances. If I were the person to hand out the awards, I would give it to this movie.

Best actor in a leading role -
1) Leonardo Di caprio - Departed
2) Peter O' toole - Venus
3) Forest whitaker - Last King of Scotland
4) Will Smith - Pursuit of Happyness
5) Aaron Eckhart - Thank you for Smoking

The reason why Aaron Ekchart is in italics, is cos I'm quite confident he wont be nominated. But I couldnt think of any other performance which should be on there, apart from the four other performances which are all but confirmed. Maybe Matt Damon for the Good Shepard, but it just wasn't a special enough performance to convince me. But it thats kinda year. In any case its a moot point, cos the real competition is between Forest Whitaker and Leonardo Di Caprio. Speaking of Leonardo Di Caprio could be also be nominated for his performance in Blood Diamond. That could be the fifth nomination.

Best actress in a leading role -
1) Penelope cruz - volver
2) Judi Dench - Notes on a scandal
3) Maggie Gyllenhaal - sherrybaby
4) Helen Mirrren - Queen
5) Kate Winslet - Little Children

Probably the most likely five to get nominated. Helen Mirren looks good to win her first oscar. I would be extremely disappointed and shocked, if any of these five fantastic actors do not get the nod.

Best supporting actress -

1) Rinko Kikuchi - Babel
2) Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls
3) Cate Blanchett - Notes on a Scandal
4 )

I'm not even going to bother to fill out the remaining two nominations. Jennifer Hudson has this one locked down. But I hope Rinko Kikuchi wins it. Suprising cos usually this is the one of those categories which is difficult to predict who gets in.

Best supporting actor -
1) Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls
2) Jack Nicholson - Departed
3) Djimon Honsou - Blood Diamond
4) Brad Pitt - Babel
5) Mark Wahlberg - Departed

Probably the toughest category of the night. But in the end this would have to come down to a showdown between Brad Pitt and Eddie Murphy. Jack Nicholson has won one too many. Djimon Honsou is always good, but apparently never good enough, and Mark Walhberg would just be happy to be nominated and be part of this awesome group.

Best director -
1 ) Clint eastwood - Two letters from iwo Jima
2) Stephen Frears - Queen
3) Alejandro Inarritu - Babel
4) Martin Scorcese - Departed
5) Todd Field - Little Children

Which brings us to the the best director category. By the looks of it Clint Eastwood has made two great movies in the same year - The Flags of our Fathers and Two letters from Iwo Jima. Of the two, the latter is the better movie, which is the reason why I have it in my list. There is a good possibility that he would be nominated for both movies which brings us to who makes way for the second Clint Eastwood nomination. Todd Field or Stephen Frears look to be the likely victims. Surely they could not ignore Martin Scorcese. I fear poor old marty wouldn't be able to bear that shock. Not at his age. Especially since he is the emotional favorite to win.

I feel Oscar would try to do a bit of re-arranging to accomplish this. They could move Two letters of Iwo Jima to the best foreign movie category (since it is made entirely in Japanese) and that would allow the option of Clint Eastwood winning the best foreign language director and Two letters potentially winning the best foreign language picture and Scorcese picking up the coveted best director award. However this is not may not be as easy as it sounds cos in the foreign language film category, Eastwood would face a more spirited competition in the form of Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth, Pedro Almodovar's Volver and possibly Mel Gibson's epic Apocalypto. Now that's one tough category and I'm personally rooting for Del Toro's superb fantasy Pan's Labyrinth.

Lots of interesting possibilities. Remember you read it here first. As I mentioned, there is no unpredictability to look forward to at the Oscars.

Nav

How GURU could've been a better movie..

2007-01-14T20:53:00.000-05:00

Yes, I've been away from my blog for awhile, but it was never away from my mind for long. And as any true blogger worth his/her salt would tell you, you can rarely go about leading your life, noticing and observing details, without wondering whether its worth mentioning or writing about.

But a true blogger would also quickly point out its immensely difficult to carry out the simple step of converting ideas and abstract thought into written words. Writing, afterall, requires discipline, like any other form of art. And discipline is what I apparently lack.

But I digress. Moving onto a subject, the only subject, I feel i'm qualified to write about -- Movies, which brings us to GURU - the latest movie by Mani Ratnam. I don't believe I've waited so eagerly to watch a hindi movie since, well, a really long time. A Mani Ratnam movie, afterall, is a reason to celebrate.
And boy, what a glorious movie it could've been! It had all the makings of a classic saga of emotion, love and triumph over adversity. I may have been particularly drawn to the movie cos of its specific storyline, which has always been one of my pet set-up plots.

It usually comprises a strong, charistmatic, enigmatic central protagonist, a person who may or may not have humble origins, who works his way to the top, but not before having to face and overcome a tough group of able adversaries, who make equally fascinating character studies. And to further heighten the drama, it could also involve a strong female character (the love interest) and a close friend/associate of the central character, who breaks away from the hero and takes sides with the enemy.

Dont ask me why I'm drawn to the above story set-up. I just am. Although if I were to guess, it may have to do with being so greatly engrossed with Ayn Rand's 'The Fountainhead' at an impressionable age. Rand, builds such great characters with such presicion and unfolds the drama with careful attention to each and every possible nuance. And what memorable characters they were -- Howard Roark, the perfect hero, and worthy adversaries - the cunning Ellsworth Toohey and the complex newspaper moghul Gail Wynand.
I don't recall any movies which has fully explored the above storyline. Scorcese's Aviator comes to mind, and so does Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar, which coincidentally , also featured Abhishek Bachchan, were he was pitted against a slew of dangerous criminals, including his own brother (played with menacing perfection by Kay Kay menon). Guru had the possibility of including all of the above elements and which inturn would've been a more complete, more powerful effort. But like Sarkar, the superb buildup in Guru was undone by a sub-par ending.

As-is, Guru is a fine movie. The first half is nearly flawless, save for unnecassary songs, which hindered the flow and broke the momentum of the movie, on several ocassions. Seriously, one expects Mani Ratnam to better utilize the songs by using it to transition the scenes - play the song in the background, but at the same time keep the story moving forward.There really is no need for seperate and lengthy song and dance sequences.
One of the key reasons for the continuing interest in the movie, apart from the refreshingly crisp dialogue are the performances of all lead actors.
The performances were well tuned with the characters. Abhishek Bachchan turns in a strong performance. His best yet. I was pleasantly surprised cos I honestly believed, based on his past performances, that he is a much over-rated actor. Same goes for Aishwarya Rai, but she proved me wrong too with a very believable and mature performance. Mani Ratnam is able to create a very comfortable chemistry between the two leads which brings a feel-good factor to the movie. But its Mithun Chakraborthy who steals the show with a superb supporting performance. A finely written role, but then again, his character is left without proper closure towards the end. Ditto for Madhavan's role of fiery reporter Shyam Saxena.

So here are 4 scenes which if included, I believe would've bolstered the impact of the movie -

1) A brief scene of Abhishek Bachchan meeting and cajoling ministers/politicians. It is never expressly shown him bribing or offering gifts to the people in power, which I feel is essential to establish some shades of grey into his character. It also would've been effectively used in the ending when he testifies against the commission who have levelled charges of corruption against him. His argument could've been something along the lines of - he used all resources available to him to ensure the growth of his business. Instead we had to sit through an un-inspiring and mind-numbing piece of dialogue which goes on for a full five minutes and was hardly relevant to the issue in hand. Ideally, after a short, yet forceful monlogue, Guru should've walked out of the commission hearing a la Howard Hughes in the Aviator.

2) A more proactive role by Madhavan's and mithun's character - Applying pressure by exposing the nexus between Gurukanth desai and the politicians he has bribed. Or as simple as a press conference where probably Mithun's character mocks gurukanth's success by pointing at the evils which comes along with capitalism. This allows an interesting sub-text, socialism vs capitalism. Good movies always tackle multi-dimensional issues.

3) A meeting between several other leading industrialists, including the Contractors, and Roshan Seth, the high profile judge, secretly pushing for a public trial of Guru. Mani Ratnam has so many good actors playing small supporting roles, might as well use them well.

4) Better closure for Madhavan and Mithun's characters. Probably a shot of them deciding to go ahead with printing the news of guru walking out of the commission and all charges against him being dropped, signalling a setback to their campaign, which would've been a more realistic ending cos it forebodes the growth of corruption, in the 70's and 80's in India, and all the high moral values and ambitions held for the brief period after Indian independence slowly disappearing.

These were just some of the immediate thoughts which came to me as I was walking out of the movie hall. It wouldnt have been tough to include the above scenes. And it would've gone a long way towards allowing a more satisfying ending. And even better would've been a sub-plot involving guru's brother-in-law. Whatever happened to him?

Nav

Workaholics Anonymous

2006-07-26T22:37:00.000-04:00

Over the past few months, ever since moving to virginia, and having being brought on-board my current project, my social life has, slowly but surely, disappeared down the drain, and a major portion of my 'active' time revolves solely around my work.

And i'm not complaining. On the contraire' I welcome it.

Sure, I might crib, every now and then, about the amount of time I lose cos of work, or just the amount of work to be completed and all that, but I love it. It's challenging. It demands my constant attention and focus, but at the same time it's intriguing enough for me NOT to lose focus and attention.
I work till late into the evening, and almost every night, I bring back the laptop from work, and VPN-in and tie up some lose ends or such. And early next morning I'm back at my office cube for more.

Whatever little free time I do get, like when I travel back and forth between work or I'm sitting by myself, my mind goes back to thinking about work stuff, some issue or defect and like some puzzle I involuntarily begin to work out the solution - '' The re-sec accounting team are seeing $4M hitting the consolidation gain/loss acct. in January...where is that coming from??? hmm..I should check all CUSIP's and associated lots which consolidated in that period and then trace back which entries are hitting that account? But which account should it be hitting...."

Gah, I need help! I never figured I was one of those workaholic types. But I guess you never know what you're capable of becoming, till you've actually become what you never believed you could ever become. And that has both a negative and a positive connatation.

I have been trying to catch up on my reading which I feel, I have been neglecting. Soon after I moved to va. and on a visit to the nearest mall, I'd walked into the Barnes and Noble store within the mall, and bought two books which I'd heard much about. One was 'A house for Mr.Biswas' by the legendary V.S Naipaul and the other ' Intepreter of Maladies' by Jhumpa Lahiri. I'd read Lahiri's 'Namesake' a few months earlier ( check below under the 'currently consuming section, for proof) and I was totally blown away by her writing. She has this gift of observing minute, simple details and describing it with vivid richness, generating a sense of nostalgia. Intepreter of Maladies is a collection of short stories, and they possess some of the key qualities which can also be found in 'Namesake'.
Most of the stories contain a tinge of sadness or feelings of being alien or a sense of loss, which some odd reason, immediately struck a chord within me. The stories which I really enjoyed reading were - When Mr.Pirzada came to dine, Treatment of bibi Haldar, and ofcourse the last story- 'The third and final continent', which is especially well written, considering she has written that completely from a male perspective.

I can see why 'A house for Mr.Biswas' is considered a classic in English literature. Its bloody well written. Prose and story-telling at its most fluent, fluid best. But I couldnt ass myself to read beyond the 150th page. Any book, or novel which doesnt bother to form a plot or gather some movement or direction in the first 100 pages of a book, automatically loses my interest. And this was the case with Biswas. I didnt at any point get involved or engaged with the story. There is only so much I can appreciate the author's fertile imagination and love for details. And therein lies the difference, according to me, between JL and Naipul. While Lahiri casually observes and states her observation ( or appropriate metaphors) and then moves on with the story, Naipul chooses to beat his, albeit intelligent observation, to death, with his need for introducing some level of sarcasm or mockery. Maybe its just me. I'm spoiled, after reading Dan Brown, John Lacarre', Ken Follet and others. The build-up is matched with the payoff.

So if anybody wants to buy a relatively unused/unread paperback edition of ' A house for Mr.Biswas' please let me know or keep an eye out for a similar offer in e-bay or Amazon or some wierd site on the worldwide web. Prices are negotiable.

Buy now and get a free Gmail account invite!!! How's that for an offer, eh? haha. Yeah PJ. I'm tooo funny for my own good.

Nav

A Season for change

2006-06-18T21:53:00.000-04:00

Those with a keen sense of observation would have, by now, observed that my profile to the right no longer reads Kearny, NJ as my current location. Those who are not blessed with such powers of observation...well..you have been informed. Haha.

Yup folks. I've packed my bags and moved down south in pursuit of those big, green bucks. Or was it the unconsicious need to just move on. I'm a firm believer that its important to actually physically get out of a place if you feel the need to make changes. Although, I can't think of any specific reason why I would need to move on from Jersey. I had adjusted quite well to the Jersey life. A case of conflicting emotions? Hahah. Not that crap again!

Its been over six weeks since I made this move and yet it only feels like yesterday I was walking towards the badminton courts for another fun, competitive session. Or making impromptu dinner and party plans with friends. And as much as I'm excited about being in Virginia and exploring everything it has to offer, a big part of me wishes that i'm back in Jersey. Oh well. Will just have to wait till the 4th of july weekend.

Meanwhile I've discovered Orcut. I knew what Orcut was all about, but I couldn't be assed to get one while many of my fellow friends perinnially raved about it and "scrapped" each other. Essentially you create your own unique profile. Or a profile as unique as your personality and then connect with your friends profiles and connect with their friends, and with their friends and then so on and so forth till you are, well, in theory atleast, connected with the whole world. WOW. Allow that grand concept to sink in.

A couple of weeks before my move to Va. I created my orcut profile and to my utter astonishment, I found a huge chunk of friends from Jersey and chennai, welcoming me to orcut. And since then, i've been hooked. And those who know me, know that I have this tendency of drifting off and staying out of touch when i'm not around. Orcut is awesome for inconsiderate people like me who just live in their own worlds and not bother informing anybody else. And those were not my words. haha. You know who you are!

And in the short period I have been in Virginia, its quite a decent place to be at. Especially this neck of the woods where I've set base is quite cool. Its proximity to DC is a great plus. DC is similar to NYc without the crowds and the dirty streets.

Soccer World cup is ON!

:::Continued:::

So its Orkut with a K. I'd like to thank yogster and the punkster for bringing that to my attention. Although the funny thing is, I always type in www.orcut.com and it never fails to take me to the homepage. Hmm so the real question would be, does it matter whether if its a K or a C, if ultimately the end result or output is going to be the same? Obviously I'm trying to derive a higher philosophical argument over a possible, yet for the time being, hypothetical scenario, which would be something along the lines of --- Would it make a difference if you chose different paths or different means, if the end result is going to be the same? -- and it's too late in the night for my mind to logically reason out an argument or counter-argument to an issue which well, frankly is not worth losing sleep over.

But boy, I've missed writing in my blog. I just can't seem to get my fingers to stop typing or seperate them from the keypad.

Nav

From the Drawing board

2006-04-22T16:34:00.001-04:00

Let me squeeze in an update whilst I have the time. *Clears off the cobwebs*

Yes its been a while hasn’t it?

I’m often plagued by this fear where if I don’t write on a regular basis, I’ll forget how to write. Well not forget how to write, but somehow lose the flow or rhythm which is essential for capturing readers interest and forcing them, literally, to continue reading rather than merely skimming.
Some of you may argue that, it’s the subject matter which determines readers interest and not style and flow. I’m not totally convinced with that argument, although it may not be completely untrue. I visit many blogs (not as much as I used to) and often find that not all bloggers have great subjects to write upon, but rather describe mundane, trivial matters, with a certain ease, finesse, and fluency which makes it a delight to read.
If you can create a wholesome combination of great story or subject matter and unique style and flow, consistently, you might as well consider writing professionally. Seriously.

So I shall attempt to write regularly just to ensure I don’t lose my mojo if you may. I suppose it applies to all facets of life. Like sports for instance. I can only imagine how professional athletes need to practice day in and day out to maintain that flow, that certain rhythm which makes them great to watch. So what does Alex Rodriguez or Virender Sehwag do when they feel they’re not in great hitting form? They head to the batting cages, and so that’s what I shall do as well. A cage to hone my writing skills.
*Pets his blogspot*

Nav

A case of Conflicting Emotions

2006-03-21T22:12:00.001-05:00

Conflicting emotions.
Those are the worst kind aren’t they? Two words --- signifying the state of mind I detest the most. Conflicting, not cos, I'm burdened with more than a single point of view on a particular issue or subject, which I might add, based on past ambivalence and something I expect with dread, in the future, is rather torturous. As we grow wiser, it is not too uncommon to realize that not all things are as black and white as we were led to believe. In fact nothing ever quite seems to be as were led to believe. But I digress.

No, No I’m referring to a more complex set of conflicting emotions – where by expressly acknowledging, and/or tacitly supporting an emotional Issue A, would lead to a result or opinion which is detrimental to another Issue B, which is also close to one’s heart. Mutually exclusive issues, if you will. Made further complicated cos of the above mentioned moral and personal ambivalence on both Issue A and Issue B. Confused? Read on… but permit me to meander about with certain general observations before dealing with specifics of the case.

Emotions --- I’m not an emotional person. Or so I tell myself. While some conveniently, and with remarkable alacrity, spew their hatred and angst upon all, hurling their opinions, upon any given platform, I choose to observe and report and allow you to draw your own conclusions. My opinions are well-encapsulated and only few are privy to it. Now, does this imply that people are wrong to voice their opinions? Of course not. Far from it. To each his own. Or her own. But let me ask you this --- Are you giving an opinion based on what you feel or what you know?
Cos feelings are ephemeral as opposed to information. What we feel today, may or may not be what we feel tomorrow. That’s the curse of wisdom and maturity. A necessary by-product. Invariably it would only lead us to being tagged as hypocrites. Hypocrites to the world, cos we’re holding on to our statements, and it would shameful for us to now, at this point and time, reverse our opinions.
Oh sorry..I’ve been shouting from the rooftops about this, this and this but I take all that back now.

People do not look upon such retractions kindly. But more importantly, we’re being hypocrites to ourselves, cos we’re forced preach what we no longer feel or subscribe to, trying to convince ourselves that we’re not straying from the path we’d once rigidly followed. This, I feel, is a far greater sin than errors which can be attributed to youthful naiveté’. We can deceive the world, but can we deceive ourselves? And we’re compelled to continue committing this sin because the world has already slotted us into these neat categories based on our initial opinions and behavior amongst other factors such as race, gender, color of hair et cetera.

On the other hand, opinions based on information are relatively reliable, cos they appeal to the logic of our minds, but they can be equally deceiving. For as mere mortals, we are not given access to the whole truth, so to speak, only as much as we need to know to function rationally within our individual sub-systems. So then, would it be possible to supply meaningful arguments and opinions based on such partially true and known information? Would it be ethically correct if you were aware of such inadequacies in your arguments, yet continue to propagate them?

What about Books? Arts? Philosophy? Religion? Convention? Law? History? Are these not valid sources of truth and information? Yes, but are they free from bias? Or as individuals are we capable of interpreting this information without being influenced by the bias which has already been deeply ingrained into our collective sub-conscious?

Okay, so alright, why this need to discuss such abstract concepts? And in the process waste everybody’s time with such verbiage?
It would be seem that blogging is injurious to one’s health. It provides us with an accessible outlet to express feelings, emotions and arguments. Most of which under normal circumstances would be locked away behind a mask of compromises.
What triggered off this verbiage was a fairly, innocuous comment/remark made by a white, American woman, on her blog which under normal, usual circumstances I would’ve brushed away without as much as a second look. Why I reacted the way I did? Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, or could be the mysterious alignment of the stars while reading her blog. Whatever it was, it made me sit up and take notice of the opinion passed and a wave of emotions and arguments swept over. I could see a successive array of words and sentences forming in my head and I opened the word editor and typed without pausing and continue to type as we speak.

So let’s fill in the blanks –

ISSUE A – Women’s rights, Strong but not vocal supporter for action against Eve-teasing, molestation and domestic violence against women. Support for movements such as Project Blank Noise. My reservations and ambivalence on these causes shall not be revealed at this point

ISSUE B – Striving for the positive and appreciative outlook of India and Indians amongst leading western nations. India is so much more than just – Land of the Kamasutra, Fakirs, Snake-charmers, Yoga, Spicy food, a land where jobs are Outsourced, IT, and people with strange accents and smell. I will not get into my love-hate relationship with India/Indians at this point.

Major Issue -- Why am I genetically pre-disposed to giving a flying rat’s ass to what people in white skins think about India and Indians?

So there you have it. Are Cause A and Cause B mutually exclusive? Well at first sight it appears they are not. Right?
Few weeks ago Project Blank Noise was initiated in India. If you’re un-aware of such a project, well then just google it or stop reading. It was a major effort, galvanized by the unequivocal support of the lobby of Indian bloggers through out the world. I found several blogs and articles written by prominent and anonymous women (and men) and their harrowing stories and tales. I felt this combined, coordinated effort would be an ideal way to ruffle a few feathers and lead to corrective measures.

Yesterday, I came across a blog where this woman (who shall remain nameless), based on what she’d read on some of the more vocal Blank noise supporter blogs, made the following remarks –

“I’ve never been to India…I don’t know much about India...but it seems that these poor women cannot step into the streets without being jeered, or teased or molested...”

Obviously I’m paraphrasing and poorly at that, cos the link to her blog has inexplicably disappeared. I can assure you I couldn’t make this up even if I wanted to.

So now this woman, in her mind, as if we Indians haven’t been stereotyped enough, has this image of India, and of Indian men as being nothing more than a pack of wolves, freaks, sex-starved individuals, waiting to pounce upon the next girl who happens to pass by. Or just waiting around the corner, in the shadows, to kidnap and rape an innocent victim or bombarding her with sexually explicit dialogue.
Is this ground reality? It would seem as if a girl walking down the street without being attacked is akin to a person walking around Gaza strip without getting shot.

“Yes! Yes!” a part of me cries. This is exactly what it must be for a girl in India. The constant fear of being molested or abused, physically or verbally.

The above was an example of an opinion based on what I feel. But is it true? Would it still stand if it weren’t true? The white girl cannot be faulted, for she made statement based on information which she believed to be true. Or an exaggeration of the truth. So now we have two sets of opinions, one based on feeling, the other based on information and both certainly misleading.

And what about the conflicting emotions? My enthusiastic support for Project Blank Noise and the subsequent comments panning Indians and Indian law enforcements is there for all to see? I am responsible in my own way of creating a negative opinion of India and Indians.
And so I’m now the hypocrite. To the world and to the person facing me in the mirror. I openly criticized Indians in my comments and now when a white person does the same, I get pissed? A case of double standards.

Conflicting Emotions. I wish I could go back to being un-emotional about matters which are beyond me.

::::::: Conclusion after a long stint at the badminton courts :::::::

We all have our imperfections. We Indians have learned to live with ours, for far too long. Would we have the same patience when dealing with a foreign culture’s imperfections? We’ve shown great strength by taking such strong steps, speaking openly, rather than hiding behind a facade pretending all’s well. When it is not. India cannot be viewed as a progressive, developing nation without first addressing its in-house issues. And in the process, if we fall from grace in the eyes of foreigners, well then that’s the price we pay for the negligence of our fore-fathers.

V for Vendetta

2006-03-19T02:20:00.000-05:00

One can safely conclude that V for Vendetta pulls no punches. I didn't quite know what to expect from this movie. The promos looked ridiculous. Probably the most charitable comment that could be ascribed to it.

Please not another swashbuckling, man with a mask, brandishing his silvery sword. Weren't we subjected to enough torture with the Mask of Zorro series?
But then strangely and contrary to initial perceptions, it appeared there was more to this movie than what meets the eye. I'd read from several souces and write-up's as regards to how the controversial storylines was feared to not sit well with the American audiences as well as how the release of the movie had to be pushed back to a later date cos of the London bombings last year and the perceived affect of the movie on British sensitivities.

So all that being said, let's focus and examine what the movie aims to achieve. It's a scathing, full-pronged attack. on a certain superpower nation, and the ways and means of its government, its firm commitment to following a misleading, incendiary agenda, and accordingly using its economic strength and ties to bully other nations, and its own citizens in the process, all in some vain pursuit of justice, following a tragedy of immense proportions, which was, frankly, brought about by a collective, negligent, partisan and ultimately failed foreign policy.

The movie succeeds in pushing this message across with startling effect. In troubled times, it would seem, that the line between an ideal democratic government and a totalitarian government, is drawn too close for comfort, if its citizens are not careful. It would require an act of revolution to reverse and limit the damage caused by such totalitarism. However the movie chooses to remain silent by failing to address the thorny issue as to whether such an act of revolution, as mentioned above should be equated to an act of terrorism?

While such emotionally charged intellectual allegorical arguments would draw fair number of viewers , it could also, equally, be the cause for its disapproval. Afterall the audiences would require a certain mindset to tolerate and appreciate such entertainment(?), and it would be understandable if audiences decide to stay away from what can be easily perceived as liberal left rantings. Also known as the Michael Moore effect. Box-office numbers at the end of the week will provide answers.

There is not much of a plot besides what's already been described, in bits and pieces, above. But briefly, the movie is set in futuristic London, subject to totalitarian rule under Chancellor Adam Sutler (John Hurt) and his special group of enforcers. John Hurt barks and snarls as Chancellor Sutler, the Hitler-like leader of the British regime guilty of imprisoning and killing gays, lesbians, the sick and the weak, and intimidating its other citizens through surveillance, roaming secret police, curfews and manipulating the puppet media to divert attention and provide veracity to half-truths, all in the guise of protecting them from terrorists and bioterrorism.
Enter V (Hugo Weaving) the masked vigilante, who introduces himself to London on Guy Fawkes Day with fireworks and a symbolic bombing, and then hijacks a television broadcast to announce that he will return a year later to destroy the Houses of Parliament. Evey (Natalie Portman), plays a journalist who accidentally becomes a part of V's plans and later his protege'.

Certain portions of the story, understandably is devoted to the back-story of V and his origins and these parts drag the movie down with its predictability. What drives the movie forward is its politically-charged energy which feeds of contemporary relevance, although it's set in England in 2020. The screenplay written by Warchowski brothers (Matrix series) is punctuated by superb dialogue, with its circuitous usage of words, almost lyrical, effectively stringing terse, concise sentences to make way for multi- layered meanings. And all the actors deliver these lines with the right tone of seriousness, wit and foreboding.

Although the promos tried to market V for Vendetta as an action film, viewers expecting a thrill ride,something along the lines of Matrix, might be disappointed. Most of the action set-pieces are rather tame and bollywood-ish.

Natalie Portman, slips in and out of her English accent. Stephen Rea plays Chief Inspector Finch, who in his pursuit of Evey and V, comes to the realization that the government is keeping something horrible under wraps.

Worth a watch.

Nav

Growing pains

2006-03-14T05:24:00.000-05:00

I opened my blog and was pleasantly shocked to discover I had no less than ELEVEN comments (!!!!) on my previous post. This couldn't be right, could it? Upon clicking the comments page-link, with, I might add, a great deal of excitement and trepidation, I stared at the long lists of porn-bot links posing as comments.

I'd been Spammed again.

It first appeared a few days ago. My first bit of spam. I promptly deleted it, figuring it was something every blogger had to deal with occasionally. However, being re-spammed and that too twice the number of sex links as compared to the last time is worrisome. Besides the fact that it's a mighty pain-in-the-arse to actually go about deleting them all individually. Obviously blogger.com have not given much thought to this aspect of blogging. Or maybe I'm just un-aware. If I remember correctly, there were certain links mentioning about comment verification or comment filtering, or something to that effect on the home page. I suppose now would be a good time to check those links out.

The only positive I could possibly draw from this episode would be that my Blog, has perhaps moved one step up the blogdom ladder. Hahaha. Afterall, I must be doing something right to attract the attention of porn bots. Wishful thinking indeed.

And while we're on the subject of growing pains, in response to one of the anonymous yet 'legitimate' comment - 'Are you planning on taking Karthik's offer?'

It does look very tempting doesnt it? The prospect of substantially increasing the blog's readership and popularity and so on and so forth. Reminds me of those investment companies or chit-funds which guaranteed increased returns on our investments. However pardon my skepticism on such short-term, high returns strategies.

I remember reading sometime ago on Lazygeek's blog, where he revealed that he was the only one to read his posts for the first six months! Imagine that. I've been a bit luckier in that aspect, having a few people comment on some of my posts every so often. Although I maintain that the joy of writing is reward in itself, a little feedback goes a long way.

Or if all else fails, I could always threaten my brother to leave me a few comments. Hahaha.

I would like my blog to be the proverbial 'Shop around the corner' serving a small, group of regular readers as opposed to a superblog with thousands of readers and the resulting inability of connecting with all readers.

-Nav

P.S : The first bit of spam appeared a few days ago as mentioned earlier. Coincidentally I put up the 'currently consuming' add-on's around the same time. Hmm...interesting. *eyes the add-on's suspiciously*

Post Oscar musings

2006-03-07T02:11:00.000-05:00

Alright, people who had predicted Crash would win Best Motion Picture at this year's Oscars, please raise your hands.
LIARS! haha.

Jack Nicholson, who presented the big award, looked visibly stunned when he opened the envelope to announce the winners and the wild celebrations amongst the cast and crew of Crash accurately summed up their emotions. I'm sure they would've been quietly confident of their chances, but Brokeback Mountain had been sweeping much of the major awards and it looked like the Academy, as was the trend over the past two years, would follow suit. But not so last night. Which is why it's such a fascinating event to watch. I've watched Crash, not once, but twice in theaters. It's a compelling movie and deserves every award it won, if not more.

Coming to my predictions, well, I'd made 10 predictions. And I broke even with 5 right and 5 wrong. Obviously I got the Best picture pick wrong. Also the Best editing (Crash) and Best Cinematography (Memoirs of a Geisha). In hindsight, it was a good decision to stop the predictions with the top 10 categories, cos I would've definitely lost more than five, courtesy Memoirs of a Geisha (which picked up 3 awards).

And ofcourse the best supporting categories - I was rooting for George Clooney and Rachel Weisz, and they won. I am pleased. Although I didn't pick them. Oh well, will just have to wait till next year.

High-points of the Show :-

1) Jon Stewart was brilliantly funny. Sarcastic, subtle, relaxed, he hit the right notes most of the time and kept the audiences in high spirits. He had some zippy one-liners, astute observations and incredibly funny right through the whole evening. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets the job next year too. Good work.

2) Speech given by the Director of the South african movie "Tsotsi" which won the Best foreign language category. It was heartfelt, emotional with an almost unrestrained joy and pride of being South African - " God bless South Africa"

3) Meryl Streep and lily Tomlin, two fantastic actresses, brillantly illustrating the Robert Altman school of filmaking by improvising their act on stage.

4) Philip Seymour Hoffman, while giving his acceptance speech, thanked his mom -"She brought up four kids alone. She took me to my first play, she stayed up with me and watched the NCAA Final Four - we're at the party, ma!" That was touching.

5) Rachel Weisz and George Clooney winning the best supporting actress and actors awards. Both individuals are box-office stars but are also at the same time establishing themselves as serious, thinking actors. Rachel Weisz rightly credited John Lacarre' the superb british writer whose book 'The Constant Gardener' formed much of the base for the movie -"this unflinching, angry story." It's definitely a must read. As are all Lacarre's books. More on that in a seperate post.

6) Kathleen Bird York's powerful rendering of her song "In the deep" from the movie Crash which was nominated for Best song.

7) Keira Knightley. Damn she looks gorgeous. What was she doing sitting next to that old perv Jack Nicholson anyway?Grr.

8) Reese Witherspoon gracefully acknowledging, in her acceptance speech, her co-star Joaquin Phoenix's inspirational performance in the movie Walk the line - "He put his heart and soul into this performance".And the camera closes-up on Joaquin Phoenix and I almost immediately, and strangely, felt a certain sadness in him not winning the Best actor award.

9) Itzhak Perlman's violin medley of original scores.

10) Shorter acceptance speeches. Thankfully this year we were spared the usual laundry list of people to thank ( my lawyer, my driver, my dog..). As a result the show seemed to proceed quicker.

The not-so high points of the Show :-

1) Reese Witherspoon's acceptance speech, except for some parts, as mentioned above. She sounded fake. But it did get better towards the end though.

2) Tom Hanks mediocre attempt at being funny. He really looks wierd with that new hairstyle.

3) Charlize theron's dress...the thing growing out of her left shoulder...

4) What was with the annoying elevator music being played while people were making their acceptance speeches? Very distracting.

Did anybody watch the American Express commercial with Manoj Night Shyamalan? It was pretty cool.

I think that wraps up the Oscar based discussions for this year. I'll probably jazz up the post with pictures at some point. May also try to include some of Jon Stewarts funny lines and memorable parts of some of the acceptance speeches. May have to look around a bit on the internet.

-Nav

The Calm after the storm and Oscar excitement

2006-03-05T15:48:00.000-05:00

By declaring after the end of play on Day 4, England had allowed themselves that much extra time on Day 5 to bowl India out. And one of the most thrilling and noticeable changes in Test cricket over the past 3-4 years, has been how teams look to and have successfully dismissed the batting team on the last day, with the last session after the tea-break packing more action than a Dan brown novel. Calcutta 2001 springs to mind. And England had pulled off a remarkable win last year on their South Africa to secure a test series victory.

Proceedings began on an inauspicious note when Hoggard shattered Sehwag's stumps early in the morning and Jaffer looked to be struggling against the new ball. Ominous signs. But with due credit to Jaffer and Dravid, they batted extremely well to place India in an impregnable position. Jaffer looked especially aggressive, with spanking and caressing strokes on either side of the square. With the fear of defeat safely negotiated, the hunter became the hunted, as India launched into a brilliant counter-attacking mode with Tendulkar and Irfan Pathan, aiming to get as close to the winning target as possible. At the end England may have well let out a sigh of relief and settled for a well-fought draw.

England lack an attacking fourth bowler, a role Simon Jones usually carries out with an almost menancing precision. His absence leaves the bowling rotation less potent. Hoggard picked up the Man of the match award.

Final Scorecard (From Cricinfo)

Only a few hours remain before the Oscars. Here's an interesting article about famous/infamous Oscar acceptance speeches (which I'll admit, I shamelessly borrowed from Rediff).

How to make a memorable Oscar speech

-Nav

India V England Test Series, 1st Test - An Unexpected Contest

2006-03-04T09:45:00.000-05:00

With a day left to play in the 1st test at Nagpur, this India Vs England series appears to have all the makings of a hard fought, enthralling contest. Although for a while there in between it looked as if the series may not live up to it's initial billing cos both teams had to settle for less than favorable results in their respective tours of Paksitan. Worse news was to follow as the English squad where hit with some key injuries just before the 1st Test. A recurring knee problem ended captain Michael Vaughan's tour before he had even warmed up and his deputy Marcus Trescothick having to return to England for personal reasons. They have been reports circulating that he shall be back in time for the 2nd Test.
So I suppose it was perfectly understandable if most viewers expected this to turn out into a dull, dry series. The absence of senior, experienced batters in the England team (The two, Vaughan and Trescothick combine over 11,000 test runs). on top of the English team already missing the services of the wily veteran left-arm spinner, Ashley Giles and Ashes hero, fast bowler Simon Jones.And it's never easy losing your calm, creative skipper at the beginning of what could be a long, arduous tour. Was this team capable of taking on India on home soil? England would have to rely on their charismatic, top-class allrounder and stand-in-captain, Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff to show them way.

And how brilliantly they have responded. Brilliance, in their attention to details, ensuring they did the little things right and playing sensibly when it mattered. At the end of Day 4, England were 297/3 with an overall sizeable lead of 367 runs. With another 7 wickets in hand and Freddie Flintoff yet to come, England would be looking to increase the lead to well over 450 and push India on to the backfoot with some sharp, aggressive bowling. At this stage I'd give them a 60-40 chance of winning this match, but somehow I feel they won't have enough time to bowl India out. If they do then it would definitely be a remarkable upset.
Fantastic contributions from all players is obviously been the difference between the two sides. Matthew Hoggard, provided a master class in sustained, accurate swing bowling, troubled all Indian batsmen, having them hopping around like they were standing bare feet on coal. Crucial centuries by Paul Collingwood in the 1st Innings and an yet to be dismissed century by debutant Alaistair cook. And not to forget, the irrepressable Kevin Pietersen.

For India obviously this has not been the ideal start to they were looking for, having their backs to wall but they can still certainly avoid defeat. The burgeoning pressure on Sehwag and Dravid to score the bulk of the runs for India is starting to get worrisome. Yuvraj Singh's absence both with the bat and on the field was distinctly felt and though, his replacement Mohd. Kaif settled down to play a pivotal innings, he does not inspire confidence. The Ganguly saga, as randramble accurately pointed out, just refuses to die down and everytime the Indian middle order appears shaky, questions are raised as to whether Ganguly should be brought back to strengthen the batting line-up. And why are Indian selectors hell-bent on treating Indian openers like dirt? What could possibly be the reason for bringing in Wasim Jaffer in place of Gautham Gambhir? It's disheartening enough that a precious, steady opener like Akash Chopra, who performed splendidly in Australia, has now been completely left out national reckoning. Unless Gambhir was left out for injuries, this replacement is a complete waste of everybody's time, cos even if Wasim jaffer scores a triple century tomorrow, he is by no stretch of the imagination, a LONG TERM OPENING PROSPECT.

So what made this series potentially exciting in the first place? Well for one, it's a clash between two equally matched teams. For my money England is without doubt, the second best cricket test team in the world and India would surely fancy themselves at Number 3 or number 4 spot. The difference between the number 2 team and subsequent two teams is often negligible.And yes, I'm sure that there are several out there who would be quick to disagree and lay out your case as to why England would be a much better squad. But let me hastily add that, India is a tough team to beat at home and England have, as history books would love to point out, always underperformed under sub-continental conditions. Several wise men have also famously agreed that 'history is bunk'. Both teams look at this series as an opportunity to raise the level of their games and try to compete with Australia for top spots.

This present English team has been making steady progress over the past few years. Under the dynamic captaincy of Michael Vaughan and coach Duncan Fletcher, they have matured quite wonderfully and built upon the strength's and successes initated during Nasser Hussein's tenure as captain. And who can ever forget last summer's heroics in the Ashes? Quite simply a remarkable sporting event which shall hold a place in the our cricketing consiousness and brought cricket back to the forefront in England and elsewhere. A lot is expected from this present English side which is not totally unreasonable, cos they have all the required arsenal and armory to take on the best teams.

They have already sent across a clear message to the Indians- that they are here to win and the Indians need to respond with equal purpose and aggression.

-Nav

(All images can be found on cricinfo.com)

Oscar Predictions

2006-03-02T17:21:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've updated. Apologies to all my readers who no doubt eagerly await my every post - haha.

Moving along*ahem* to matters which deserve our fullest and immediate attention. The OSCARS!!! which is to be televised this Sunday the 5th. It promises to be an exciting event especially since it'll be hosted by Jon Stewart, one of my favorite comedians, intelligent, knowlegable and one heck of a funny guy. Anybody who has watched the Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy central can vouch for that. If you haven't, then I'd strongly urge you to mark it down on your daily schedules. It's on air 11 PM everynight on comedy central. But if you miss it, don't fret cos they keep repeating each show every so often.

It'll be interesting to see if Jon Stewart can work his subtle magic on such a wide scale audience. It's a fine art, this hosting the Oscars business, and they've been many accomplished stand-up's and celebrities who have in the past, fallen short of expectations. I wonder if Dave Letterman or Chris Rock have any words of wisdom for Jon Stewart.

And while that shall be something to look forward to, what shall undoubtedly be on everyone's mind come this Sunday evening, will be trying to guess who'll walk away with the top honors. And as I do every year, I shall stick my neck out and like countless others, try to pick the winners. Initially I'd hoped to put it off till saturday, trying to get a feel of which way the wind blows. But might as well get it over with. I've always found it harder to choose 1 out 5, rather than say, 5 out of 20. And as usual, and i'm certain many would agree, the hardest part is being able to make a choice between whom you personally wish to win and whom you obviously expect to win.
And also there is more to it than meets the eye. For instance, in the Best director category, we have Steven Spielberg (director of munich) vs. Ang Lee (BB Mountain). Spielberg has won the top directing award twice before in the past and Ang Lee has not. How will that effect the voting process.Will the members confer the award upon Spielberg again (albeit he richly deserves it)?

Oscars, in the past have been known to take such factors into account while giving out the awards. Remember in 2001? Russel Crowe won best actor for his performance in Gladiator. Great performance but Denzel Washington's performance in the Hurricane definitely deserved the award. The next year, the same two actors, would compete again for best acting honors. This time Denzel Washington won for his performance in Training day. Did he deserve it though? Maybe. But for my money, Russel Crowe's performance in A beautiful mind was far better. So now we have two fine actors, each having won the academy award, but not for their best works. Life is not without a sense of irony. But this is my opinion. They are many who feel they deserved the awards for the respective works.

A word about the best Picture nominees. It's obviously Munich Vs. Brokeback Mountain. I feel Munich is a better movie. And that's not meant to take anything away from BBack Mountain. The others, all very absorbing productions, but well, it's a case of nomination being it's own reward. As is the case in the other categories

So that being said, here are my picks -

Performance by an actress in a leading role -

Judi Dench in “Mrs. Henderson Presents”

Felicity Huffman in “Transamerica”

Keira Knightley in “Pride & Prejudice” <-----Rooting for

Charlize Theron in “North Country”

Reese Witherspoon in “Walk the Line” <----- Expect to win

Performance by an actress in a supporting role-

Amy Adams in “Junebug”

Catherine Keener in “Capote”

Frances McDormand in “North Country”

Rachel Weisz in “The Constant Gardener” <-----Rooting for

Michelle Williams in “Brokeback Mountain” <----- Expect to win

Performance by an actor in a leading role-

Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Capote” <----- Expect to win

Terrence Howard in “Hustle & Flow”

Heath Ledger in “Brokeback Mountain”

Joaquin Phoenix in “Walk the Line”

David Strathairn in “Good Night, and Good Luck.”

Performance by an actor in a supporting role-

George Clooney in “Syriana” <----- Rooting for

Matt Dillon in “Crash” <---- Expect to win

Paul Giamatti in “Cinderella Man”

Jake Gyllenhaal in “Brokeback Mountain”

William Hurt in “A History of Violence”

Achievement in directing-

“Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features)Ang Lee <---- Expect to win

“Capote” (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)Bennett Miller

“Crash” (Lions Gate) Paul Haggis

“Good Night, and Good Luck.” (Warner Independent Pictures) George Clooney

“Munich” (Universal and DreamWorks)Steven Spielberg <---- Rooting for

Best motion picture of the year-

“Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features)A River Road Entertainment Production Diana Ossana and James Schamus, Producers <--- Expect to win

“Capote” (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)An A-Line Pictures/Cooper’s Town/ Infinity Media ProductionCaroline Baron, William Vince and Michael Ohoven, Producers

“Crash” (Lions Gate)A Bob Yari/DEJ/Blackfriar’s Bridge/ Harris Company/ApolloProscreen GmbH & Co./Bull’s Eye Entertainment ProductionPaul Haggis and Cathy Schulman, Producers

“Good Night, and Good Luck.” (Warner Independent Pictures)A Good Night Good Luck LLC Production Grant Heslov, Producer

“Munich” (Universal and DreamWorks)A Universal Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures ProductionKathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg and Barry Mendel, Producers <---- Rooting for

Adapted screenplay-

“Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features)Screenplay by Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana <--- Expect to win

“Capote” (UA/Sony Pictures Classics) Screenplay by Dan Futterman

“The Constant Gardener” (Focus Features) Screenplay by Jeffrey Caine <--- Rooting for

“A History of Violence” (New Line) Screenplay by Josh Olson

“Munich” (Universal and DreamWorks)Screenplay by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth

Original screenplay-

“Crash” (Lions Gate)Screenplay by Paul Haggis & Bobby MorescoStory by Paul Haggis <--- Expect to win

“Good Night, and Good Luck.” (Warner Independent Pictures) Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov

“Match Point” (DreamWorks) Written by Woody Allen

“The Squid and the Whale” (Samuel Goldwyn Films and Sony Pictures Releasing)Written by Noah Baumbach

“Syriana” (Warner Bros.)Written by Stephen Gaghan <----Rooting for

Achievement in film editing-

“Cinderella Man” (Universal and Miramax)Mike Hill and Dan Hanley

“The Constant Gardener” (Focus Features) Claire Simpson <---Rooting for

“Crash” (Lions Gate) Hughes Winborne

“Munich” (Universal and DreamWorks) Michael Kahn <--- Expect to win

“Walk the Line” (20th Century Fox)Michael McCusker

Achievement in cinematography-

“Batman Begins” (Warner Bros.) Wally Pfister

“Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features)Rodrigo Prieto <--- Expect to win

“Good Night, and Good Luck.” (Warner Independent Pictures)Robert Elswit

“Memoirs of a Geisha” (Sony Pictures Releasing)Dion Beebe

“The New World” (New Line)Emmanuel Lubezki <--- Rooting for

As you may noticed in several categories (infact all xcept one) I've made two entries. Now the one's marked "Expected to win" are the nominations I pick to win. So the degree of accuracy of my picks should be measured upon these nominations and not the one's i'm rooting for. So that would lead to the next logical question which would be - Would I be happier if the nominations I rooted for actually won? (which means my pick was wrong). Well If they indeed did win I'll be pleased. On some occasions,I'd rather be pleased than be accurate.

And absolutely no Indian presence in the Oscars this year. Last year we had a documentary based on children of sex workers shot in the slums of Calcutta (which won, If I remember correctly). The year prior to that we had a nomination in the Short film category (Little Terrorist). Also last year there was an air of expectancy as Aishwarya Rai, the supposed toast of Hollywood, was slated to present an award. But was a no-show. Apparently was shooting on some foreign location and could'nt escape from her schedule. Or so her media managers would like us to believe. Haha. Will keep a close watch to check if she's kept herself free this Sunday.

-Nav

Brokeback Mountain and Oscar Roundtable

2006-02-14T12:55:00.000-05:00

Finally got around to watching Brokeback Mountain. There's been an incredible buzz surrounding this movie and people have either, going by news reports, absolutely loved it or hated it. Considering the number of nominations BbM has been gathering (including 8 for the Oscars) I had to watch this movie to see how it compares with the other top movies nominated.

I'm not going into any lengthy, detailed review of the movie. There are plenty of valuable, better written reviews online to give readers a pretty fair idea about the storyline.

The movie is definitely well-directed. Ang Lee crafts each and every scene with care and deftly gets us involved into the story, allowing it to unravel leisurely and at a quiet pace. Although this movie deals with a bold theme, and the plot allows for several potentially emotionally-charged moments, it does not engage in any such shakesperean-like drama . There is a sense of restraint throughout and it would seem that Lee is more keen in making an intellectual argument rather appealing to raw emotions. Especially the ending which would've been more tragic had the director allowed it to be. But then on the same note the directors subtle show of support for gay marriages and union (at the end) couldn't have been more emphatic if he'd engaged in unnecassary melodrama earlier.

I realize i'm contradicting myself. The directors appeal to the logic of the mind bears fruit at the end cos he's forcefully put his message across. But I'd hoped it would be a more moving, emotional experience (like Munich). Imagine Titanic without the cheesy Melodrama. But as the director and having considered all factors, Ang Lee might've felt that this approach would probably be best suited to provide full justice to the script. And Kudos for his efforts.

The acting performances are brilliant. And deservedly receive acting nominations. Heath Ledger's reticent, soft-spoken, well modulated quasi-aussie cowboy accent is perfect. Jake Gyllenhaal virtually inhabits his character.

So? How does this compare with the other movies? Hmm diffficult to say. While Munich and Crash brilliantly manipulate the audiences emotions ( and the word manipulate is used here in the most positive sense possible), Goodnight and Goodluck and Brokeback Mountain seek to, as mentioned earlier, make intellectual arguments to already seering,controversial issues. None of the stories can be considered "safe" or "formulaic" and are all grim, edgy movies. Brokeback Mountain especially seems to be caught up in a battle between the conservative right-winged groups who were up-in-arms at the movie and the liberal left wing (which populates most of hollywood). We shall see how it all boils down on March 5th.

Meanwhile, I found an interesting article on Newsweek Entertainment which carried the Annual Oscar Roundtable discussion between all the nominated directors. Could there be a more diverse, exciting group of filmakers in a single room? A very interesting read indeed.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11077661/site/newsweek/

-Nav

Indo-Pak Series 2006 - Yawn...

2006-02-07T19:40:00.000-05:00

I have an unique theory as to India's recent test loss. They were bored to defeat. Bored, as in having to sit in an chemistry class for over 5 hours and not to be confused with bored as in drilling, although that usage also applies in this case.

The dead, flat, batsman's pitches which Pakistan prepared are the worst kind for cricket. Any sort of psychological advantage Indians held after the 1st test at Lahore were quickly dispensed by the lifelessness of the Faisalabad pitch. Give credit to Rahul Dravid for picking 5 bowlers and the initial enthusiasm displayed by young R.P.Singh and a re-energized Zaheer Khan to dismiss Pakistan in the 1st innings. But Pakistan's 2nd Innings really did the damage on the 4th day, the wicket neither suiting the Indian spinners nor the pace bowlers. With no turn and no pace, Younis Khan and Mohammed Yousuf went about dismantling the Indian attack.

Let me try to get into Dravid's mind for a moment and try to analyze what he might've been thinking.At any point in a test match, as a bowling and fielding side, there has to be some kind of positive optimism which the captain and players exude. On a flat track, they hope to contain matters till the situation becomes more favorable. In this case it would mean let the fast bowlers bowl to defensive fields, block the boundaries, consistent tight fielding to regulate Pakistani scoring and then when the pitch provides glimpses of some turn or wear and tear, attack with Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. But this would never happen. There would be no rescue from the spinners as the pitch refused to crumble and allow for spin and the tennis-ball like bounce ensured that Pakistan batsmen could play over the top with a certain sense of freedom. Pakistan, to their credit grabbed all opportunities they were given and even when there was talk amongst the commentators (mostly Dean Jones) about declaration, such kindness was not shown on the Indian bowlers.

By the time the Indian cricket team reached Karachi for the 3rd test, they were mentally bored and tired. The Adrenaline and upbeat tempo which India had shown on their last trip was sorely missing. How else would you explain letting Pakistan off the hook after Irfan Pathan's sensational hattrick? And then proceeding to fail to post competitive scores when required and losing the match by a huge margin.

I don't think anybody really was upset at the Indian loss. Most people I met and who are passionate supporters could only shrug their shoulders upon hearing India's defeat. I suppose that pretty much sums up this test series. None of the high's and lows of the previous trip.

In the end, besides being bored,it came down to which team had the better variety of bowlers and Pakistan certainly seem to have a more potent attack this time around on such surfaces. Irfan Pathan has some lost some pace and the vicious in-swinger which were crucial in his initial years. He needs to get back that zip and pace to regain his prime form. Zaheer Khan is not the fast bowler he was 2 years ago. He seems overweight and relies heavily on reverse swing. I feel we have a safe bowling rotation which does not neccasarily translate into good. We need to get Balaji back into the rotation and one express fast bowler who's capable of shaking things up for others like Pathan and Khan to exploit.

-Nav

Oscar Talk

2006-02-07T18:20:00.000-05:00

Out of the 30 nominations I'd predicted, I got 23 right.Wow! Definitely an improvement over last year where I might've gotten around 16-17 right.

There were a few surprises - I'd expected Syriana to get nod for best picture ahead of Crash although both were really equally hard-hitting, edgy movies. The reason, I suspect, has to do with the dense, complex structure of Syriana's screenplay which had so much to say and may not have, in hindsight, successfully brought the point across to the audiences. A case of less would've been better.

Kiera Knightley getting the nod for her performance in Pride & Prejudice ; a movie which I haven't watched but I'm glad she was nominated cos she's really one of my favorite actresses and really, she needed it after her disastrous Domino debacle ( I seriously considered a refund till she bared her boobs and that was worth the price of admission). Dame Judi Dench gets a nod courtesy the "Wildcard" spot which is usually reserved for Over-the-hill actresses partaking in risque', independent productions or some non-American actress. This year it was a fight between Judi Dench and Zhang Ziyi for Memoirs of a Geisha. Mostly the two nominees - the default British actress (which in this case would be Kiera, unfortunately) and the wild card serve as necassary decorations while the remaining 3, usually American actresses, fight it out for the top award.

William Hurt for best supporting actor?!? Why? I've watched History of Violence and let me assure you that his 5 minute role in the movie does not justify his nomination. And it would seem even more unfair when compared with Matt Damon for Syriana, or Don Cheadle for Crash. Often the Academy feel they have to inject some kind of controversial nominee or decision to stir a debate and tounge wagging.

An interesting tussle for the Best Original Screenplay between Crash, Syriana and Woody Allen's Matchpoint. Now that would be the category I'll be watching closely. Three sublime screenplays but which are so vastly different from one other in tone and presentation - Crash-so provocative, relentless and dramatic, Syriana -Intelligent, subtly conveying a sense of helplessness and desperation, masterfully juggling several protagonists and tales like puppets, and Matchpoint - a departure from regular Woody Allen stories yet maintaining the brilliant wit, honesty and an ever sharp eye for everyday truths and reality which is present in all his screenplays. Few can match Allen's lucidity in dialogue.

The others categories are more or less predictable and this year there is NO one movie which I'm rooting for except perhaps Munich, which is shockingly only nominated in 3 categories and excluded in the Best Cinematography category. Unlike last year when I wished Aviator would sweep in all categories, this year I nurse no such dreams.

Johnny Depp, probably provided his most outstanding, dramatic, outrageous perfomance in the Libertine, a movie which, unfortunately, did not garner enough support and publicity which in the end may have been the reasons why he was not nominated. If he'd been nominated it would be an interesting head-to head with Philip Seymour Hoffman for the best Actor award, which it would seem at the moment Hoffman has all but delivered his acceptance speech.

And I'll conclude the Oscar talk with some humor. The day after the nominations were announced, several leading Indian newspapers splashed in the headlines - "Paheli Out", "Paheli does not get the nod at the Oscars" and so on and so forth. HAHA. keep dreaming suckers! Let's face it, Paheli was not India's best effort. Infact there was a collective groan from several leading critics when it was chosen to be sent to the Oscars. And for those who'll immediately attack people like me with statements like "We should not start aping Hollywood movies just so we win the Oscars" and " We should start our own Awards". Such statements are depressing and hypocritical. Indian directors have no issues with directly copying popular hollywood movies and regurgitating them on screen (like American Pie, Unfaithful) but don't have what it takes to deal with the tough, gritty movies which Hollywood ALSO produces. Munich, Brokeback Mountain, Anyone?

And why is it that when it comes to sending Indian movies across to be selected for Best Foreign Movie category that the selection panel (whoever this mysterious group maybe) look only towards bollywood movies? Are there no suitable Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam movies? Or anyother regional language? I'm quite certain they are! And infinitely better than Paheli.

-Nav

Oscars 2006 Predictions

2006-01-31T02:57:00.000-05:00

Only a few hours before the nominations for the 2006 Annual Academy awards are announced. So I figured I might as well lay out my predictions. Predicting the nominations for the oscars is not rocket science. Anyone who has been, even casually, following all or any of the other award shows can easily predict nominees and even winners. Also the oscars are quite favorable towards specifically made movies. There is no definite framework but you know when you see a movie whether it is Oscar-worthy or not.

Here are my list of nominees -

Best movie

1) Munich
2) Syriana
3) Brokeback mountain
4) Capote
5) Goodnight and Goodluck

Best Actor in a leading role -

1) Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote
2) Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain
3) Terrence Howard - Hustle N Flow
4) David Straitham - Goodnight and Good luck
5) Joaquin Phoenix - Walk the Line

Best Actress in a leading role -

1) Charlize Theron - North Country
2) Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line
3) Gwyneth Paltrow - Proof
4) Joan Allen - Upside of Anger
5) Felicity Huffman - Tranamerica

Best Supporting Actor:

1) G.Clooney - Syriana
2) Matt Damon - Syriana
3) Jake Gyllenhall - Brokeback Mountain
4) Matt dillon - Crash
5) Paul Giamatti - Cinderella Man

Best Supporting Actress:

1) R.Weisz - Constant Gardner
2) Shirley Mcclaine - In her shoes
3) Michelle Williams - Brokeback Mountain
4) Frances Mcdormand - North Country
5) Scarlett Johannson - Matchpoint

Best Director

1) Steven Spielberg -Munich
2) Ang lee - Brokeback Mountain
3) George Clooney - Goodnight and Good luck
4) Fernando Meirelles - Constant Gardener
5) Benett Miller - Capote

Rang De Basanti - Review

2006-01-29T11:31:00.000-05:00

SPOILER ALERT - The following review contains brief and detailed references to certain plot twists in the movie Rang de Basanti. Prior knowledge of such plot twists may and will most likely lessen the overall impact of this movie.

Every so often, Bollywood unleashes a powerful movie which defies all expectations and compels the audiences to sit up and take notice. Rang De Basanti (RDB) is one such movie. Heaping accolades - "Great" and "It rocks" - would only sell it short, cos such accolades are most often associated with lesser quality movies and RDB deserves much more. It's Funny, Engaging, Stirring and Intelligent.

What is it that sparks a revolutionary? Regular people, who in ordinary cirumstances would've gone about leading their normal lives. driven by an almost indefinable rage or passion towards their cause at the risk of losing their own lives. Could there be any justifiable reason for such drastic actions? The movie focusses on these particular questions (amongst other themes) and the screenplay cleverly juxtaposes parallel tales of revolutionary Indian freedom fighters (Bhagat Singh, Chandrasekhar Azad and co) and a present day disillusioned group of close college friends.
The story begins with Sue McKinley (Alice Patten), a british documentary film-maker who comes to India with hopes of making a documentary on those prominent freedom fighters (Bhaghat Singh and co) giving them the much deserved recognition to the western audiences. She is mostly inspired by her grandfather's journal who happened to be the jail warden at the facility where most of the prominent revolutionary freedom fighters were held. His journal provides for some of the conversations he had with these people and also functions as an informal guide to the history of Indian freedom movement. Sue's contact person in Delhi is Sonia (Soha Ali Khan) who assists Sue in her project. But things don't run so smoothly at first as both find it difficult to find the right people to essay the lead roles of the freedom fighters. Then Sue gets to meet some of Sonia's friends - DJ (Aamir Khan), Aslam (Kunal Kapoor), Karan (Siddharth), Sukhi (Sharman Joshi) - a group of wild, carefree, college buddies. And almost immediately Sue recognizes they are exactly the people she was looking for her documentary. Lakshman Pandey (Atul Kulkarni) the local student right-winged politician later joins in to complete the cast.

The group, initially find the concept absurd and would rather party than participate in the project but as they go about working on the documentary they find themselves questioning the rationale and ideals of the freedom fighters and in the process make several references to the hopelessness of present day India. Lt.Captain Ajay Rathod (Madhavan) Sonia's fiance' and an fighter pilot provides much of the positive, morally correct responses to group's skepticism and it's his tragic death in the second half, which shocks and ignites the group into seeking retributive action.

For those who might feel I've given away too much, there's no such cause for concern. What really propels the movie forward is the splendid combination of terrific, realistic performances and a well-written, multi-layered screenplay. Finally a script which bollywood can be proud of. If there were any messages the director wishes to convey, atleast it had the decency of allowing the audiences to draw their own intepretations rather than have it shove down our throats.
The direction by Rakeish OmPrakash Mehra is superb. Visually arresting, he carefully captures the natural progression of his characters. Mehra used to work as an ad-filmaker. And there is adequate proof of this in each and every frame. A lot of effort has obviously been taken to capture the right emotions and also in setting-up each scene. The five or more primary characters are usually seen together for most of the movie. Yet each scene is carefully crafted to allow for maximum interplay between the characters. This may sound trivial, but most bollywood movies fail to do this, focussing on one or two characters and the others are given the same importance as stage props. What Mehra has achieved is to ensure that each characters is seen contributing towards the scene.

Aamir Khan leads the ensemble cast with a tour-de-performance.He has proved he is one of the best actors around and that the ghosts of Mangal Pandey are well and truly behind him. His natural effervesence, the effortless natural Punjabi accent, subtle and powerful acting as the role demands (his breakdown scene in the 2nd half will be long remembered - a la Kamal Hassan). While he provides a strong performance he ensures he never overshadows the rest of the cast. Three revelatary, break-through performances by Soha Ali Khan (expect big things from her), Siddharth ( Tamil hero, darkhorse, provides a subtle performance with lasting impression) and Sharman Joshi (mostly seen in crass commercial movies, definitely has some acting talent). Atul Kulkarni also impressive but nothing dramatically different from his previous performances. Alice patten is probably the best foreign actress in a bollywood production. She provides a competent performance and thankfully does not murder her hindi speaking lines. Well done. Looking forward to watching more of her in the future.

The music of AR Rehman is impressive and probably deserves a seperate post for further review. The music has been cleverly inter-woven into the narrative (All directors should be sent a copy of this movie just to show it can be done). "Paathshaala" and "Khoon chala" are beautifully picturized and are equally haunting.

Brilliant.

-Nav

Back!

2006-01-28T02:42:00.000-05:00

Guess who's back, back again?

There are plenty of reasons (or excuses) for not having updated for such an extended period of time, and paucity of suitable subjects for blogging is definitely not one of the reasons. Infact so many interesting topics of discussion have come and gone, that it's gonna be quite a task to plug them in my future posts without making it seem irrelevant (given the short interest spans for most readers).

The truth is, I felt my writing was getting rather...stale. Yes. Lost some of it's initial freshness. Repetitive rhythms. Not lucid and smooth enough. I could go on but I felt a break was needed.

Starting tomorrow, with my review of "Rang De Basanti", I'll be making a few, slight changes to my writing which should hopefully make my posts a more enjoyable reading experience.

-Nav

India-Pak:Day2- The Misery Continues...

2006-01-14T15:37:00.000-05:00

Pakistan's power batting put them in a dominant position at the end of Day 2. They finished at 679/7d but in all fairness to the Indian bowling, this was an awesome batting track with sweet, even, tennis ball bounce and no signs of deteoriation yet. Indian batting should be reasonably optimistic of posting a huge total themselves, if possible as close to the Pakistan total, and then given the nature of the pitch, and amount of turn and such around the 4th day, attempt to spin themselves to a victory. But I wouldnt blame Dravid and Chappell if they just decide to bat till day 5 (and there's no reason why they cannot) and essentially bat pakistan out of the game and play for draws. It would make for good batting practice.

A call from a friend around 3 AM ET gave me access to a link to watch few overs before the lunch break. But all hell broke loose after lunch. Shahid Afridi was especially in a foul mood as though someone had stolen his chicken kebabs at lunch (Inzamam would look to be the guilty party) and he looked to take out his anger on the Indian bowlers by ferociously thumping them all over the ground. Harbhajan Singh was taken apart in one over conceeding 4 consecutive sixes and a total of 27 runs.

Special note regarding the commentary. After having the luxury of listening to high-quality commentary such as in a NBA or NFL game, it was quite a rude awakening listening to commentators like Arun Lal and Ramiz Raja talk. Has there been a more irritating and annoying commentator than Ramiz Raja? Perhaps Ranjit fernando, but Ramiz Raja makes my blood boil everytime he opens his big-mouth. He is openly biased towards his team and obviously takes great pleasure in pointing out whenever India struggles. Which other commentator would compare Afridi to Sehwag and Gilchrist. I agree they' could all be equally destructive, but is there any comparison between the three? Raja has made it very clear on several occasions that Afridi is Pakistan's answer to Sehwag or something along those lines. This by itself would qualify him as a bad commentator but his words and comments make him especially bad.
For instance on day 2 sometime in between Afridi on 97 and getting his century this is what Raja had to say.. " That 97 would look more impressive if 3 more were added to it" ?.. And not to be outdone, there's our own Arun lal. Why do all Indian commentators feel the need to be agreeable? Save perhaps Ravi Shastri none of the others have the confidence to hold their opinions and speak their mind. And his comments are cringe-worthy.

For instance - The over in which Afridi smacked Harbhajan for 4 sixes, one of those sixes travelled just outside the boundary lines and landed on a puddle of rainwater. This is how Lal had to describe the event - "That was the six which Afridi hit to find the water"

And it's only Day 2..

-Nav

India-Pak: Day one - A day of trials

2006-01-14T04:00:00.000-05:00

Woke up on friday and quickly opened cricinfo.com to find out how things had turned out on Day 1 of India v Pakistan at lahore and was quite shocked at the turn of events. Firstly Pakistan had batted first and finished at 326/2 with Younis khan, who was such a thorn in the flesh for India when pakistan toured India last year, havin raced to an unbeaten 147 and Mohammed Yousuf unbeaten at 95. From the score it would seem that either the pitch is a batsman's paradise or the Indian bowling was rather poor. I suspect a liberal combination of both. Eitherway India should now be prepared to face a huge, daunting 1st innings total, definitely over 650 runs, unless the bowlers can perform a minor miracle and restrict Pakistan to a lower total. But as shocking as the scorecard read, what was equally baffling was the poor selection choices. Saurav Ganguly was brought in place of opener Gautham Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar was also given the nod ahead of Zaheer khan. What? Just when it seemed that under the guidance of Greg Chappell that this new look Indian team were ready to make some tough selection choices, they go ahead and commit a selection hara-kiri before a ball has even been bowled which may well influence the rest of the series and I daresay, looking at the 1st day's scorecard that it's not looking very good for India. It's of outmost importance that each team put their best foot forward in the beginning of any series and India it would seem was caught wearing non-matching pair of shoes.

Why would Dravid approve of a plan to drop an established opener, thus breaking a solid opening pair and bring in an extra middle-order player? Surely the middle-order is strong enough, it's always the Indian top order which looks fragile and which needed to be strenghtened. Afterall that was the reason to bring in three regular openers on this tour. But now there's only 1 regular opener in the playing eleven. Did Dravid expect Ganguly to open the Innings? There is no way that Ganguly would agree to open the innings. Even if he agreed, the chances of him succeeding are remote. He would prove far more useful in the middle-order. So the only logical alternative would be to push Yuvaraj Singh into the opener's slot. Afterall he was being groomed to open the innings before? But I feel that he is not equipped to open the innings and even if he did succeed in this test match and series he is Definitely NOT a long-term opening prospect. So why bother with uncertain short-term gains?

There are many who loathe the presence of Ajit Agarkar in the side and with the selectors misplaced confidence and persistence of Agarkar. I personally feel he is an excellent asset in ODI team but at the test level he lacks the required skills. His selection would surely only make the bowling less potent. Why is Zaheer khan, once the spearhead of the Indian bowling rotation now relegated to a second-string position?

Looking towards Day two for some answers.

-Nav

India-Pak 2006

2006-01-12T14:21:00.000-05:00

Everybody ready for round 3 of India- Pakistan cricket ?! Do I hear an unconvincing YES? Well you're not the only one. The cricketers, media and respective boards have gone all out to hype the event which in itself seems rather odd, cos when was the last time you had to work to generate excitment for an Indo-Pak clash? But as odd as it seems, or maybe it's just me, I'm just not "feeling" it on the eve of the 1st test at lahore. Maybe once the game gets underway I may be drawn into the contest. I suppose it's a case of familiarity leading to normality. And normal is not a word usually used to describe an Indo-Pak encounter. How could it? Given the political and social tensions between the two warring nations ever since the dawn of independence, cricket was just one of the arenas where the group of eleven players on the field represent the hopes on an entire nation with the sole desire to defeat and humble the enemy. The ground was the battlefield, the cricketers being soldiers and the game no less than a bloodless war. Acts of heroism and courage were richly rewarded and acts of failure would lead to heavy censure and punishment (just ask chetan sharma..chetan who?..exactly). So it's understandable if the players feel the need to bring their A-game often resulting in tense, edgy contests. A victory would spark of wild celebrations and fireworks and defeat could mean humiliation, bandhs, and sometimes even suicides.

India's 2004 tour of pakistan was an epic, historical moment. Historic, cos it was the 1st time India were touring their neighboring nation in over 15 years but more importantly it seemed this was almost the perfect occasion for the two nations to come closer. And how brilliantly they did. Suddenly all barriers were broken. New breakthroughs were made - promises of a new, peaceful future. Security was unprecedented, All matches were sold-out and ticket prices went up the roof. Floodgates were opened as 1000's of Indians travelled across the borders and almost immediately felt at home, feeling the warmth of the welcoming arms of a generous host and connecting with the generation X of pakistan. On the cricket field, the most exhilirating, exciting contests as if paying homage to all classic Indo-Pak clashes, played out in front of delirious, house full crowds- a rarity in Pakistan cricket, producing an almost carnival like atmosphere, with colorful sights and sounds. And unbelivably vocal. And none more so than the deafening screams of BALAJI! BALAJI! , when a tall, lanky, dark-skinned, long-haired Indian fast bowler, who captured the imagination of the whole of Pakistan, who's heart was as big and wide as his grin, clobbered the thundering shoaib Akhtar for two expansive sixes driving the crowds and audiences into a state of heightened frenzy. The games were so highly-charged that the crowds were often reluctant to leave once the games were completed and both nations let out a collective sigh when the series came to an end, expressing a sense of sadness that it ended so quickly...like a fantastic date..you just wish it wouldn't end.

The series was an unparallaled success with both boards making a killing with the telecast rights. The series also highlighted the power of cricket as an uniter and saw the emergence of a powerful tool - Cricketing Diplomacy. Top brass and influencial political leaders of both governments were invited to attend matches, providing an informal channel for negotiations, not to forget countless photo-ops.

India beat Pakistan in both the ODI's and test matches, for the first time in many, many years which made it even more delightful for the faithful Indian supporters, bringing to close probably India's best season performances in decades. The team was high in confidence after an amazing performance against the Australians in australia and it showed in the way they played. Infact I would recommend that the Indian team be sent over to the Australia every year to ensure they maintain high standards...something along the lines of Quality control measures.
However when Pakistan visited India the following year the tables and results were turned even though India started off, albeit slightly rusty, as strong favorites. In hindsight, much of this defeat could be blamed on poor planning. India seemed over-confident (for once), targetting one or two threats in the Pakistan line-up (Inzamam, Youhana, and perhaps Razzaq) and almost believing that once they were removed, the rest of the team would crumble under the pressure. That never happened. Case in point the 1st test at chandigarh were the perfect opportunity to win the game was let go cos India never capitalized on easy chances. That made a crucial difference between a series victory and a drawn series. Secondary players such as Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Rana Naved kept coming up with the goods at the pressure situations. Now that the Indian team are more familiar with the present Pakistani lot I hope they won't be making the same errors in judgement.

And yes once again the familiarity between players is such a key. India and Pakistan have been playing a lot of cricket between each other especially since 2004 and reciprocal tour in 2005 and few a ODI tournaments and a champions trophy somewhere in between. So in a way the excitement levels are little bit down which admitedly is great for the players since they face less pressure. Infact a columnist wrote, I forget who, but I agree with him or her, that for the 1st time in an India-Pak series the focus in on the cricket and not on security. But one sincerely hopes that India-Pak matches never end up like say an India-Srilanka series..that would be end of cricket as I know it.

Go India Go!
-Nav

Hostel - Review

2006-01-07T02:21:00.000-05:00

Ahhhhhhh!!

Alright, so everyone knows there are basically two schools of horror in movies - The Omen + Exorcist school of horror which relies heavily on setting up an eerie & spooky aura, delivering effective BOO moments on cue, the supernatural element being the key to achieving the desired scare effect. Movies from the recent past such as The Ring, Skeleton Key, Grudge etc have cleverly adapted the tried and tested frameworks with success. But the problem with these movies is that..anybody who has watched a significant number of horror movies and with a little application of common sense can easily forecast the BOO moment. Its been a while since I've watched a horror movie and was blindsighted by a a clever scary sequence.
The Second school of horror movie-making follows the footsteps of movies such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Evil dead, slasher movies from the 80's which rely heavily on gore, mutilation, and lots and lots of blood. These movies are rarely scary as such but I find them personally disturbing on many occasions, purely because of the extent to which it is implied, how cruel and sadistic people can actually be.

Movies such as Wolf Creek find themselves neither here nor there and succeed merely in provoking a shake of the head and at some points even some laughter when not intended. But that's a subject for another post another day.

Hostel clearly falls in the latter category. Director Eli Roth aims for the jugular (quite literally) and never lets go. This is a BRUTAL, GRUESOME, GRAPHIC AND VERY VERY BLOODY movie. Trust me. Even Passion of the Christ or Saw seems tame compared to this one. While there was some reasonable justification for the brutality and graphic scenes in POTC, here the director merely seems eager to push the envelope to shock and numb the audience. It works..and it doesnt.

The film follows a pair of American college friends, Josh and Paxton, backpacking around Europe for one final fling before succumbing to the real world of jobs and committments. Somewhere along the way the duo met up with Icelandic party freak Oli and the trio roam freely in search of cheap drugs and sex. When they hear of a travellers hostel in Slovakia loaded with beautiful and (ahem) affectionate women the trio promptly set off. And the rumors are true. When they arrive they walk in on their hostel room mates - a pair of stunningly beautiful women - in a state of undress as they prepare to head for the hostel's spa. Yes, a spa in a hostel!! The boys join them there, breasts are exposed (quite a lot of breasts are exposed, really, the entire first act being a fairly non stop succession of perky, silicon-enhanced bosoms) - sex is had and the boys believe they've found heaven. That is, until the next morning, when Oli goes missing. And when Paxton finds himself all alone the morning after that something is clearly wrong. This is where things get dark and brutal and bloody, fast.

The film works partly cos it's able to create a distinct uneasiness, particularly in the torture scenes (and the build-up to those scenes) and manages to sustain such unease for long periods of time.The reason it doesnt work is cos the way the movie was marketed - the Big secret of the movie is clearly given away in all promos and anybody who has watched those promos will know what to expect. Where is the revelation? The element of learning a shocking truth? Besides the copious amounts of nudity and ridiculous violence the movie has very little thrills to offer, which makes it even more disappointing not to forget the presence of quite a few loop holes and convenient coincidences. So what was Quentin Tarantino's contribution to this project? Was it to offer some much needed credibility to the movie? I believe so, cos the story is quite mediocre (it's an unique idea but that's about it), a not-so well known director (Eli roth directed Cabin fever and may have a smal following but he's No QT) and no recognizable actor. I suppose if it had not been for QT's association, this movie may well have ended up direct to DVD.

Instead we have endure this torture on the big screen.

The one success the movie may boast would be it's vivid depiction of Europe as a very, very dark and unsafe place thus shattering all my euro-trip fantasies. Another reason to hate this movie.

-Nav

P.S: I've attached the least disturbing photo of Hostel I could find. So apologies for any unpleasantness.

10 best bollywood movies 2005

2006-01-01T14:45:00.000-05:00

Ah, back to my blog. It's a crime to seperate a true blogger from his PC. Next time remind me never to travel without my laptop.

It was a mixed bag for bollywood in 2005..some creative movies showing signs that bollywood is slowly maturing although there was plenty of garbage released to ensure that some would continue to view bollywood with skepticism.

So here are, according to me the top 10 movies in 2005 (not in any particular order):-

1) Shabd - A complex, multi-layered, abstract movie which requires the audience to
pay attention.Versatile performance by Sanjay Dutt subtly depicting signs of mental deteoriation, unable to distinguish between reality and fantasy. Aishwarya is a miscast and the annoying presence of Zayed Khan drags the movie down.

2) Page 3 - Director Madhur Bhandarkar's "Shock and awe" effort, a cold, unflinching look through the eyes of an idealistic journalistic leading viewers down the dark underbelly of mumbai and the shameful lives lead by celebrities who populate the popular Page 3 section of newspapers. Celluloid equivalent of sensational journalism which on 2nd viewing one may well wonder what all the fuss was about? Good effort anyway.

3) Seher - The first of many small budget, story based,independent productions which leaves an lasting impression. Good ensemble cast lead by Arshad Warsi in a serious role.

4) Yahaan - Another movie with less hype and more substance. A credible storyline, gorgeous cinematography, tight direction and editing, topped with finely nuanced performances by Jimmy Shergill (one of the under-rated actor in bollywood) and minisha Lambda.

5) Black - let's for once set aside the astonishing psychological methods of treatment such as yelling, shaking and throwing kids around etc shown on screen and instead relish the richness and finese of the movie. Sanjay Leela Bhansali is an artist and his movies are often his canvas- a stunning dash of vivid colors and lush settings, punctuated with lucid dialogue compels the viewers to get involved. Powerful performance by Amitabh Bachchan lifts the movie to higher levels.

6) Socha Na tha - A light, entertaining story with finely sketched realistic characters and a believable story line. Abhay deol shines as the confused guy in love with two beautiful women. Engrossing from start to finish. Excellent.

7) D - Another look at the mumbai underworld from the Ram gopal Varma factory. This movie seems almost like a hybrid derivate of RGV's Company, Satya, and Sarkar. Yet the movie comes out on top and manages to hold it's own amongst the other movies cos of it's relentless tension and superb breakthrough performance by Randeep Honda.

8) Salaam Namaste - This is an entertaining movie. Some moralists may disapprove of the basic storyline and others may cringe at some parts of the movie but overall I was thoroughly entertained by this story - An intelligent, humorous movie which tries to raise above the mundance bollywood productions. Delightful performances by Saif Ali Khan, Priety Zinta, Arshad Warsi and ofcourse Javed Jaffery who steals the show everytime he's on screen, his dead-on fake Aussie-American-bihari accent had the audiences in splits. Good fun.

9) Parineeta - Why? cos of the same reason black is in the list. It's a beautifully crafted movie, a period piece replete with music, and production values richly describing Calcutta in the 60's. It has a pretty decent storyline and Saif Ali Khan once again impresses with a moderated performance. Debuntant Vidya Balan looked assured and looked the part and it's a walk in the park for Sanjay Dutt.

10) Maine Gandhi ko Nahin Mara - To be completely honest I was disappointed with this movie. Why? Cos I guess I had high expectations. I expected a compelling, captivating drama. But that being said I cannot take anything away from the movie. It sticks to it's fairly unique story and Anupam Kher and Urmila Matondkar get into the skin of their characters and dish out fantastic performances. Expect awards for this one. A pat in the back for the director..a fine effort showing bollywood the way.

Also supposedly good movies are : - Hazaron khawhish aisin, Iqbal, Antarmahal.

Disappointments of 2005 - Sarkar, The Rising-Mangal Pandey, Virrudh, Paheli.

-Nav

End of 2005, Beginning of 2006...

2006-01-01T02:21:00.000-05:00

Happy new year everybody!!!!

It's funny how time seems to fly by so quickly..It's like only yesterday I was welcoming the new year, praying for bigger and better things. Taking stock at the end of the year..I feel there are lots of things yet to be done and more to be achieved.

So here's wishing that 2006 would be a year of new experiences, seeing and visiting new places, new faces, new friends, new books and movies yet at the same time not forgetting or letting go of our past and close ones.

Also read the My daily blog for more details.

-Nav

Elizabethtown - A look back

2005-12-24T08:05:00.000-05:00

When I watched the promos of Elizabethtown my heart skipped a bit. Firstly it was directed by Cameron Crowe whom I rate as one of the finest of our generation.I have always felt a deep connection with all his movies (Almost Famous, Vanilla Sky) but none more so than what I consider his best work to date - Jerry Mcguire which for some odd reason (most likely the timing of it's release) has had such a huge impact on me. No movie in the recent past (save perhaps, The Matrix) boasts of so many memorable oft-quoted lines. I've watched it oh so many times and yet it never seems tiring. Secondly, the promos looked promising.

So given my little history with Cameron crowe movies, watching Elizabeth town, Crowe's most ambitious project (in terms of screenplay) proved to be absolutely heartbreaking. Cos it's a colossal disaster. If the success of a movie can be attributed to the vision of the director, then Crowe's vision in this case is hopelessly incoherent and disjointed. The problem lies in the screenplay which tries to do too much and cover too much ground - suitable for a 600 page novel- but on the screen it ends up under-cooked and disconnected. Somewhere there is a really good movie trying to escape but it's buried deep within the walls the screenplay puts up and what could've really helped was some tight editing. One brilliant scene followed by 2-3 cliche' scenes, which don't work and yet, is allowed to go on and on, far beyond required, tests the patience of the viewers and as a result the movie seems much longer than it really is. Brilliant dialogue which is the essence of any Crowe movie is rather dull here, although there are plenty of memorable quotes sprinkled throughout the movie (some of them are listed below) but they are too few and far in-between to have any significant impact.

There are 3 stories within Elizabethtown, each pulling the movie in it's direction and all of which could work as a stand alone movie.

First layer - Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom) once the blue-eyed boy of his company, subsequently fired, facing a personal, emotional crisis (loss of his father) goes on to find true love Claire Colburn (Kirsten Dunst), rediscovers his roots and re-connects with his dead dad which in turn begins his healing process.

Second Layer- A fascinating look on the quaint, small southern town of Elizabethtown and Drew's interactions with his dad's family residing within...a look into their lives, the drama and problems

Third layer - A man and his family - Mom (Susan Sarandon) and sister (Judy Greer) coping with the death of the father

The first layer, which is essentially the core of the movie, which contains the best parts, is too similar to Jerry Mcguire in it's theme. Hence Crowe's need to add more layers. The second layer proves most distracting and out-of-place. Significant parts of the the 2nd layer could've been safely excised without effecting the story. Little attention is given to the 3rd layer and Drew's attempts to re-connect with his father. By the time Susan Sarandon performs her stand-up comedy routine the audience has moved way past caring the outcome.

Also infuriating is Crowe's need to plug every scene and also every moment of silence with music where subtle instrumental background music (or silence) could've made those scenes more poignant.

The movie contains three BRILLIANT scenes. The first where Drew discusses the difference between failure and fiasco on his way to being fired, the all-night phone conversation between Drew and claire, and the road-trip at the end.

The connection between Drew and claire is depicted beautifully. The phone conversation scene is one of the best I’ve ever seen, where they’re talking on the phone all night (after seeing a wedding party Drew feels utterly lonely and calls her out of desperation) about every conceivable topic and they keep saying “Well, I’ll let you go,” and then something new comes up and they can’t stop and they’re doing laundry while they talk and clandestinely going to the bathroom and wandering around, the phone pressed to their ears so long they start to hurt. And the whole experience is bright surprises. You fall into this comfortable embrace. You found someone, you’re shocked to realize, that thinks just like you. Has the same sense of humor. And this person is really a stranger. But you can’t stop yourself from disclosing everything there is about you. Crowe handles this scene like a poet.It’s something we’ve all experienced -- not just the phone call and not just the conversation, but that click of something that feels right -- and that’s what Crowe does so well: he gives us that starry, cute, Hollywood romance stuff, but in a way that is so true and honest, so attuned to his characters and to the small details of reality, that we’re instantly involved in something that feels intimate and genuine.

It's thus heartbreaking that the rest of the movie just doesnt lift itself to that level.

Memorable Quotes (Courtesy IMDB) -

Drew Baylor: In that moment I knew success not greatness was the only god the world served.

Claire Colburn: I think I've been asleep most of my life.
Drew Baylor: Me too.

Claire Colburn: Men see things in a box, and women see them in a round room.

Drew Baylor: You know the way people look at you as if it's the last time? I've started collecting these looks.

Drew Baylor: I've just recently decided that the things we know aren't black and white.

Claire Colburn: And so we all became helpers, which I *so* can't help. I can't help helping.

Claire Colburn: I've spent so much time thinking about all the answers to the problem, that I forget what the problem *actually* was.

Drew Baylor: [embracing] Please don't take this as rejection.
Claire Colburn: I really don't.

Claire Colburn: You know, You're always trying to break up with me, and we're not even together.
Drew Baylor: I know... We're not?

Drew Baylor: I'm gonna have to call you back...
Heather Baylor: Okay, just dial HELL and i'll answer.

Claire Colburn: Trust me. Everyone is less mysterious than they think they are.

Claire Colburn: We peaked on the phone.

Drew Baylor: So what are you doing right now? Claire Colburn: [referring to Drew] I'm checking out this cute guy... Drew Baylor: [disgusted face] Why are you telling me that?

-Nav

NY Yankees 2005 Payroll

2005-12-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

NY Yankees is a very rich organization which often gives them the luxury of spending Top Dollar to acquire the best talent. Many baseball enthusiasts despise the Yankees cos they believe that Yankees with their dis-proportionate spending gives them a huge advantage over other competing teams who cannot afford such big Budgets thereby effectively "Buying" the championships every year. Several attempts have been made to introduce a Salary cap or a spending limit in order to make it an even playing field for everyone.

Here are the NY Yankees salaries for the year 2005 -

PLAYER SALARY (US$)
1. Alex Rodriguez 25,705,118
2. Derek Jeter 19,600,000
3. Mike Mussina 19,000,000
4. Randy Johnson 15,419,815
5. Jason Giambi 13,428,571
6. Gary Sheffield 11,496,689
7. Jorge Posada 11,000,000
8. Mariano Rivera 10,500,000
9. Carl Pavano 9,000,000
10. Hideki Matsui 8,000,000
11. Jaret Wright 5,666,667
12. Shawn Chacon 2,350,000
13. Kyle Farnsworth 1,975,000
14. Ron Villone 1,950,000
15. Tanyon Sturtze 850,000
16. Mike Myers 600,000
17. Bubba Crosby 332,950
18. Andy Phillips 317,200

Total Team Salary: 205,938,439

Let's compare that with the other teams in MLB-

MLB TEAM PAYROLL (US$)

1. NY Yankees 205,938,439
2. Boston 121,311,945
3. NY Mets 104,770,139
4. Philadelphia 95,337,908
5. LA Angels 95,017,822
6. St. Louis 92,919,842
7. San Francisco 89,487,426
8. Chicago Cubs 87,210,933
9. Seattle 85,883,334
10. Atlanta 85,148,582
11. LA Dodgers 81,029,500
12. Houston 76,779,022
13. Chicago Sox 75,228,000
14. Baltimore 74,570,539
15. Detroit 68,998,183
16. Arizona 63,015,833
17. San Diego 62,888,192
18. Florida 60,375,961
19. Cincinnati 59,658,275
20. Minnesota 56,615,000
21. Oakland 55,869,262
22. Texas 53,891,258
23. Washington 48,581,500
24. Colorado 48,107,500
25. Toronto 45,038,500
26. Cleveland 41,830,400
27. Milwaukee 40,234,833
28. Pittsburgh 38,133,000
29. Tampa Bay 37,975,067
30. Kansas City 36,881,000

Let's address the whole level-playing field issue- If I were, for instance, the CEO of an organization and I had the requisite resources, would I like to go about attracting and recruiting the best talent available in the industry? I certainly would! After all my vision would be to develop a strong organization. On the other side, If I were a player with a certain skills set, would it be fair that I get paid a certain fixed sum for my services cos there is a salary cap in place whose only purpose is to prevent me from getting paid a higher sum just so the business competitors can operate within their budgets?

But in the end it doesn't even matter. Just look at the salary budgets of the two teams that made it to the world championships - Chicago W.sox and Houston Astros. Baseball is a great leveller.

-Nav

Yankees Acquire Johnny Damon!

2005-12-21T05:52:00.000-05:00

After watching other teams -- most notably the Mets, Red Sox and Blue Jays -- make big splashes this winter, the Yankees finally landed their big fish. The Yankees fired the latest shot in their rivalry with the Red Sox, signing Johnny Damon to a four-year, $52 million contract to become their new center fielder. And being a huge yankees fan myself, I'd think that with Damon donning the pinstripes the Yankees are one of the toughest teams to beat with their ALL-Star line up and are serious title contenders come 2006.

While other teams have been grabbing the headlines with multi-million trades, Yankees have been quietly focussing on strenghtening their bullpen and filling up the gaps in the outfield. After adding Kyle Farnsworth, Mike Myers and Ron Villone to the bullpen, the Yankees came to a one-year, $2 million agreement with Octavio Dotel on Tuesday, finishing up the work on the relief pitching. Then the Yankees came to terms with Damon, stunning the baseball world.

The Yankees now possess, I believe a very strong all-round roster with a healthy bullpen (as opposed to last year) with arguably an enviable, yet slightly over-crowded starting rotation - Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina, Chien-Min Wang, Carl Pavano, Shawn Chacon, Aaron Small and Jaret Wright as potential starters, and Rivera, Farnsworth, Dotel, Villone, Myers and Tanyon Sturtze in the bullpen. Al leiter, the LHP, was offered arbritration but refused..I'm hoping that the Yankees will work out a deal with Leiter too.

Just look at this Offensive batting line-up -

Johnny Damon,Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano,Gary Sheffield, Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui , Jason Giambi, Jorge Posada and possibly Bernie Williams as DH (if he accepts). Wow! Can't wait for the season to begin!

-Nav

MTA Strike Day 2

2005-12-21T05:07:00.000-05:00

On Interstate 95 between Philadelphia and Trenton, signs warned northbound drivers: "AVOID NEW YORK CITY... MAJOR RESTRICTIONS."

At one subway booth, a handwritten sign read, "Strike in Effect. Station Closed. Happy Holidays!!!!"

At Penn Station — a major hub for commuter trains coming in and out of New Jersey and for Amtrak — an announcement over the loudspeaker told people to "please exit the subway system."

For a city that thrives on speed and convenience, tourists and shoppers, hustle and bustle, there could hardly be a worse time for a transit strike than five days before Christmas.New Yorkers (and let's not forget the 1000's travelling from NJ) faced another bone-chilling commute Wednesday without their cherished subways and buses as a transit strike entered its second day. The mayor, had earlier, put into effect a sweeping emergency plan,to reduce gridlock and keep certain streets open for emergency vehicles.
It included requiring cars coming into Manhattan below 96th Street to have at least four occupants until 11 a.m.
Police officers were checking each car and refusing to let those with fewer than four passengers continue into the heart of the city; some drivers were picking up random people off the street to meet the quota. However, vehicles traveling within Manhattan don't need to have four passengers.

Travelers crammed into Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal and jammed highways last night trying to leave the city. The evening commute was as frigid and spirited as, though perhaps more angry than, it had been in the morning, when even Mayor Michael Bloomberg walked over the Brooklyn Bridge to get to work.In the morning, traffic at the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels from New Jersey was about half the usual volume, and some Manhattan streets seemed more civilized than usual for rush hour.The LIRR, which is not on strike, added extra trains and shuttles to help commuters from Queens and Brooklyn who normally take MTA buses and subways into Manhattan. Metro-North Railroad did the same for travelers from the Bronx.

Drivers, including taxi drivers, were required to have at least four passengers between 5 a.m. and 11 a.m. to get into most of Manhattan. People jumped into cars with strangers, and cabbies picked up extra passengers - often with no additional fare - just to meet the requirement.Two-dozen Santas from Brookstone's department store stood on the bridge to greet commuters as they walked or biked across the bridge. Coffee and hot chocolate was also distributed to commuters there.

According to a CBS news report, the strike could cost as much as $400 million a day because the city is packed with tourists and this is always the busiest time of year at some of the most famous addresses in America — shops on Fifth Avenue and the theatres on Broadway. New York retailers, restaurants and bars are expected to bear much of the brunt of the strike. The week before Christmas traditionally accounts for up to 20 percent of many stores' holiday sales, and consumers who must pay higher taxi fares or face long walks could slow their spending.

Bloomberg, said not only is the city noticeably less busy than it is on a regular day, but many food delivery services have not been able to make their runs, schools opened two hours late, hotels were experiencing cancellations and airlines are "on edge."

Here are some of the KEY ISSUES FOR THE STRIKE.

10 Worst Bollywood movies of 2005

2005-12-20T03:21:00.000-05:00

Only a few weeks remain in a year, which arguably was a real low for bollywood, punctuated with atrocious displays of film-making, comprising repetitive, run of the mills storylines, simplistic, cheesy remakes and disappointing treatments to much-hyped projects.

No doubt this would lead to much hue and cry, a lot of angry words written in the film journals and publications, calling for the need to overhaul the system, make bollywood more professional and the urgent need to encourage and invest in creative, independent filmakers to compete at an international level. Ha!

Meanwhile here's my list of the top 10 worst movies for the year 2005. It was a tedious task to choose just ten cos they were plenty of movies which had an equally likely chance of being on the list. And also the list restricts itself to movies I've watched. So please don't be upset if a movie you've had a particular displeasure of watching is not on the list. My heartfelt commiserations.

so here goes:-

1) Elaan - Even a multi-star cast and Mithun Chakraborthy's high-profile comeback could not save this from crashing at the box-office and rightly so.

2) Insaan - Mind-numbingly inane, despite the presence of Akshay Kumar, who must be embarrassed to admit being part of this movie. Reminicent of 80's Telugu movie trash.

3) Kisna - Subhash Ghai's much-hyped box-office debacle. Words cannot begin to describe the nonsense allowed to be shown on the screen.

4) James - Mindless violence. Shocking product from the Ram Gopal Varma factory.

5) Bewafaa - Worst of the worst. A pretentious, preachy movie dealing with the issue of adultery featuring bollywood heavyweights Akshay Kumar, Kareena kapoor,Anil kapoor. Manoj Bajpai delivers the most frightening over the top performance. Must be seen to be believed.

6) Waqt - A barely tolerable first half quickly goes down the toilet from which it never recovers despite the presence of Amitabh bachchan, Akshay Kumar.

7) Kaal - Another high-profile horror flick which had audiences laughing their socks off. Not a good sign.

8) Main Aisa Hi Hoon - Movie does incredibly well to insult the intelligence of the average movie-watcher.

9) Yakeen - The most incredible plot ever to be told, with loopholes so large a few trucks could comfortably drive through.

10) Fareb - The movie requires Manoj Bajpai to play a dashing, stylish, playboy..Enough said.

Others worth mentioning : - Koi Aap sa, Bachke Rehna Re Baba, Blackmail

-Nav

Ganguly out and All that Jazz

2005-12-19T05:31:00.000-05:00

Indian cricket never fails to amuse me.

Saurav Ganguly, former Indian cricket captain, was dropped from the 3rd test match versus Sri lanka at Ahmedabad, causing public outrage across the nation. I wouldn't say I'm completely surprised by this step taken by the selectors. It's a well known fact that Ganguly had enjoyed the complete support and faith of former BCCI head honchos, Messrs Dalmiya and his deputy Ranbir Singh Mahendra, which without doubt allowed Ganguly to retain his place in the team despite his poor form the past few seasons. However recently held BCCI elections led to the ouster of present incumbents,including Ranbir Mahendra, and brought in a change of guards, most of whom do not have a favorable opinion of Ganguly.

Ganguly's public battle of words with current Indian coach Greg Chappell did not make things any easier.

Ganguly was promptly dropped from the ODI team which led to predictable public furore but mostly from within the state of Bengal. Ganguly went back to domestic cricket where he produced a string of useful contributions in a bid to get into the Indian Test team. He was eventually picked for the first two test matches at Chennai and Delhi. The Chennai test was a washout but Ganguly played some useful , steady innings (39,40) at key junctures at Delhi. Indians won the test match comfortably. But then without warning he was dropped for the 3rd test which really makes us question the timing of the act.
If Ganguly had failed with the bat at Delhi and was subsequently dropped, it probably wouldnt have sparked the kind of reaction it did. If anything, it only seems to bring in a political angle to the whole issue and opens the door for the possibility that Ganguly was not dropped purely for cricketing reasons.

The official stance of the selectors has been "they are looking towards the future..." which in this case would mean Yuvraj Singh who has been in top batting form this season. Selectors feel, and I agree, that Yuvraj would be a more productive selection at the number 6 position. But my question would be- What was the need to drop Ganguly? He could've at best, if not part of the playing eleven, been part of the team and incase of any injuries or such, Ganguly would be a useful batsmen to have around. As it turned out the captain Rahul Dravid, suffering from the flu, was rested and Mohammed Kaif was brought in. It now remains to be seen if the present batting line-up could prove equal to the task at Ahmedabad.

What has also been amusing is how politicians and political parties have pounced upon the issue letting everybody know exactly how they feel to the point where they are actually bringing up the Ganguly issue to be discussed further in parliament. Haha! It's mindboggling that politicians would set aside important issues like I don't know, eliminating poverty or corruption, and instead debate furiously over the "grave injustice" of dropping a cricketer. That's Indian cricket for you. And not to forget the disturbing yet equally amusing Public Protests. Some people have really skewed priorities.

Meanwhile there's Anil Kumble, a veteran leg-spinner who's playing for the last 15 years or so, who was also dropped from the ODI team and from the look of it does not fit into the ODI scheme of things. There were no debates in parliament..no protests on the streets even though he's won more matches for India than any bowler in the recent past. But for a while back in 2001-02 he looked to be muscled out of the Indian cricket team cos of a shoulder injury and the emergence of another deadly champion off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. But he has worked extremely hard and made his presence felt in the team with his consistent performances and now alongside Harbhajan forms a devasting test bowling duo.

A look at his records for the statistically inclined (Courtesy Cricinfo)

If Ganguly believes he has a few more years of international cricket left in him, he'll do well to take a leaf out of kumble's book and prove it to his detractors.

-Nav

The Golden Globes

2005-12-19T04:03:00.000-05:00

The 2005 Golden globe awards nominations was announced on December 12th. I've been wanting to mention it earlier but it must've somehow slipped my mind.

Honestly, I don't care much for the Golden Globes. Too many categories, too many nominations and EVERYBODY is invited, very similar to a Indian/Bollywood movie awards ceremony where invariably anybody who attends goes home with an award. Golden globes nominations kickstarts what promises to be another long, gruelling awards season leading upto the Oscars. The period in between follows the annual ritual of bitter, aggressive, non-stop campaigning of movies to voters and members, countless T.V appearances, magazine write-ups, unbelivable media hype and coverage, high-stake parties to woo influencial opinion generators such as movie critics& editors, endless politics, backstabbing, photo-ops and the works. Whoever said the life of a movie star is easy?
The Golden globe nominations are usually carefully monitored cos it's a precursor to the Oscar Nominations, which only goes to show how the Oscars have dropped their standards. I feel that the MTV movie awards have more credibility than Golden globes. It's most likely I won't bother watching the Golden globes. Maybe check online to look at the winners.

That being said here are the nominations (courtesy -HPPA) and below each category you'll find my choice of who I think should..or in most cases would win.
Note - All these predictions are as of 12/18/05 cos I've yet to watch potential Oscar heavy-weights such as Munich, Brokeback mountain, Memoirs of a Geisha and a few others.

1. BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

a. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN Focus Features/River Road Entertainment; Focus Features
b. THE CONSTANT GARDENER Potboiler Prods./Scion Films; Focus Features
c. GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK Section Eight/2929 Entertainment/Participant Productions; Warner Independent Pictures
d. A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE New Line Cinema; New Line Cinema
e. MATCH POINT Jada Productions; DreamWorks Pictures

MY THOUGHTS - i've yet to watch Brokeback mountain and Matchpoint...both movies have received rave reviews. So my choice as of now would be - Constant Gardner.

2. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

a. MARIA BELLO - A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
b. FELICITY HUFFMAN - TRANSAMERICA
c. GWYNETH PALTROW - PROOF
d. CHARLIZE THERON - NORTH COUNTRY
e. ZIYI ZHANG - MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA

MY THOUGHTS - Most likely charlize theron. Unless Ziyi Zhang or felicity huffman deliver a spectacular perfomance which I doubt.

3. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA

a. RUSSELL CROWE - CINDERELLA MAN
b. PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN - CAPOTE
c. TERRENCE HOWARD - HUSTLE & FLOW
d. HEATH LEDGER - BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
e. DAVID STRATHAIRN - GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK

MY THOUGHTS - Philip. S. Hoffman - Hands down.

4. BEST MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY

a. MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS Heyman Hoskins Prods.; The Weinstein Company

b. PRIDE & PREJUDICE Working Title Prods.; Focus Features/StudioCanal

c.THE PRODUCERS Brooksfilms; Universal Pictures/Columbia Pictures

d.THE SQUID AND THE WHALE American Empirical/Peter Newman – Internal; Samuel Goldwyn Films/Sony Pictures Releasing International

e. WALK THE LINE Twentieth Century Fox; Twentieth Century Fox

MY THOUGHTS - Mrs.Henderson presents although Walk the line also stands a good chance, may swing either way.

5. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY

a. JUDI DENCH MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS

b. KEIRA KNIGHTLEY PRIDE & PREJUDICE

c. LAURA LINNEY THE SQUID AND THE WHALE

d. SARAH JESSICA PARKER THE FAMILY STONE

e. REESE WITHERSPOON WALK THE LINE

MY THOUGHTS - Laura linney.

6. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE -MUSICAL OR COMEDY

a. PIERCE BROSNAN- THE MATADOR

b. JEFF DANIELS- THE SQUID AND THE WHALE

c. JOHNNY DEPP- CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

d. NATHAN LANE -THE PRODUCERS

e. CILLIAN MURPHY- BREAKFAST ON PLUTO

f. JOAQUIN PHOENIX -WALK THE LINE

MY THOUGHTS - 6 nominations? Anywho- Joaquin phoenix.

7. BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

a. KUNG FU HUSTLE (CHINA)Columbia Pictures Film Prod. Asia Ltd/Huayi Brothers/Taihe Film Investment Co. Ltd/Star Overseas; Sony Pictures Classics

b. MASTER OF THE CRIMSON ARMOR aka THE PROMISE (CHINA)Beijing 21st CenturySheng Kai/China Film Group/Capgen Investment Group/Moonstone Prods.; The Weinstein Company

c. JOYEUX NOEL (MERRY CHRISTMAS) (FRANCE)Nord Quest Prods. Senator Film Prods./The Bureau Artemis Prods/Media Pro Pictures/TF1 Films/Les Productions de la Gueville; Sony Pictures Classics

d. PARADISE NOW (PALESTINE)Augustus Film/Lama Films/Razor Films/Lumen Films/Arte France Cinema/Hazazah Film; Warner Independent Pictures

e. TSOTSI (SOUTH AFRICA)UK/South African Prods.; Miramax Films

MY THOUGHTS - I found kung-fu hustle to be a real entertaining movie. Although Paradise now is an equally engrossing motion picture.

8. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

a. SCARLETT JOHANSSON- MATCH POINT

b. SHIRLEY MacLAINE- IN HER SHOES

c. FRANCES McDORMAND -NORTH COUNTRY

d. RACHEL WEISZ -THE CONSTANT GARDENER

e. MICHELLE WILLIAMS- BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

MY THOUGHTS - Rachel Weisz.

9. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

a. GEORGE CLOONEY -SYRIANA

b. MATT DILLON- CRASH

c. WILL FERRELL- THE PRODUCERS

d. PAUL GIAMATTI- CINDERELLA MAN

e. BOB HOSKINS -MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS

MY THOUGHTS - Paul Giamatti.

10. BEST DIRECTOR - MOTION PICTURE

a. WOODY ALLEN MATCH POINT

b. GEORGE CLOONEY -GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK

c. PETER JACKSON -KING KONG

d. ANG LEE -BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

e. FERNANDO MEIRELLES -THE CONSTANT GARDENER

f. STEVEN SPIELBERG- MUNICH

MY THOUGHTS - i've not not watched Munich, Brokeback mountain...So my choice would be Fernando Meirelles although I'm conviced that Spielberg will win it.

11. BEST SCREENPLAY - MOTION PICTURE

a. WOODY ALLEN- MATCH POINT

b. GEORGE CLOONEY & GRANT HESLOV- GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK

c. PAUL HAGGIS & BOBBY MORESCO -CRASH

d. TONY KUSHNER & ERIC ROTH-MUNICH

e. LARRY McMURTRY & DIANA OSSANA-BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

MY THOUGHTS - Syriana is not even nominated? Ridiculous. Munich.

12. BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - MOTION PICTURE

a. ALEXANDRE DESPLAT -SYRIANA

b. JAMES NEWTON HOWARD -KING KONG

c. GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA- BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

d. HARRY GREGSON-THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE WILLIAMS LION, THE WITCH AND THEWARDROBE

e. JOHN WILLIAMS- MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA

MY THOUGHTS - Does anybody really care? Syriana.

Umm I skipped the Television shows nominations.

I've probably post my list of potential nominees for Oscar 2005 soon.

-Nav

Bluffmaster - Review

2005-12-17T02:13:00.000-05:00

I've been hooked onto the soundtrack of Rohan Sippy's Bluffmaster. A soundtrack often reveals a lot about the movie and this soundtrack consisted primarily of unique, groovy, 70's inspired retr0-mix numbers which led me to believe that this, perhaps would be a fast-paced, clever con movie, something along the lines of Ocean's Eleven, Out of Sight, Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown and maybe even a subtle nod to the cheesy 70's bollywood caper movies like The Great Gambler or Do aur do Paanch. The promos also seemed to suggest the same.

Soundtracks, like promos can often be deceiving too.

The movie begins with a clever job pulled off by con artiste Roy Kapoor (Abhishek Bachchan) and his crew. And he is indeed a con ARTISTE. He's an experienced, smooth operator with an uncanny ability of picking out his targets, cool under pressure and coming up with ingenious ways to hoodwink his victims. Or so the director would like us to believe cos Roy rarely exhibits any of these skills on screen. But for sake of convenience let's assume that it's all true and move forward. He's involved in a romantic relationship with Simmi (Priyanka Chopra) who loves him dearly and they plan to wed. But as fate would have it Roy is exposed for who he really is,on the day of his engagement no less, and Simmi, shocked and betrayed, promptly breaks off the engagement.
A dejected Roy meets with a young, aspiring, yet not fully polished con artiste, Dittu (Riteish Deshmukh) and after much persuasion agrees to take Dittu under his wings. Roy takes on the role of Master and Dittu the apt pupil as he attempts to teach the tricks of the trade, and other important lessons of life (which would include comparing life to an ocean and humans to fishes) and this allows the two to form a close bond. But just as things seem to go 'swimmingly' well, Roy discovers he has a malignant tumor in his brain and another three months to live. Also his repeated efforts to woo Simmi back seem to have limited success.
Given his condition, he decides to help Dittu pull off their biggest con job. The target - Chandrakanth Parikh aka chandru (Nana Patekar) a ruthless, sleazy business tycoon with powerful connections . Dittu is nursing a personal vendetta cos Chandru destroyed his dad's small business causing him to go insane.
In order to achieve this, Roy and Dittu take up the identities of diamond thieves on the run from the police seeking to "hide" in Chandru's hotel. All pretend ofcourse but Chandru believes they are the real Diamond thieves and is keen to acquire the diamonds from them. The bait is set. What follows is a predictable game of who's conning whom and anybody with half a brain could figure out how the movie is gonna end.

The film attempts to be witty and fast-paced and fails on both counts. The blame should be placed squarely on the director. Visual style is essential in any con movie. It's an absolute must in the absence of a strong plot. Quick, inventive camera movements needing to convey suave chutzpah, the slick sleight of hands, creating a sense of urgency. Directors often employ multiple angles, split screens (Brian DePalma is a master of such visual creativity) to allow the viewers to grasp all the angles involved in the con similar to how the mind of a con artiste works. But director Rohan Sippy chooses to present the story in a rather straight-forward manner with minimum style which brings about a certain dullness to proceedings. The one con scene (besides the one at the beginning) is credible but the director allows it to drag far too long.
Then ofcourse there is the Simmi-Roy romance which is an annoying distraction. Every scene featuring Priyanka and Abhishek brings the movie to a screeching halt. It's obvious that not enough attention was given to this part of the story. How else would you explain the lame, repetitive, melodramatic dialogues? They share no chemistry to speak off and everytime the viewers would hope that the director would stop with the romance and just get on with the con.

Priyanka Chopra seems distinctly uncomfortable everytime she's on screen. She delivers a wooden performance. However the screenplay should also share the blame for not giving her much to work with. For instance, during the first half, Abhishek tries on numerous occasions to patch things up with Priyanka but she categorically lets him know that she is thru' with him. But as soon as she finds out that he has a life-threatening tumor and only few months to live, she breaks off her engagement with her present fiance, and declares her desire to spend the rest of her days with Roy. Talk about a remarkable U-Turn!

A lot has been riding on Abhishek Bachchan from this movie even though he has had a fantastic year. He is under pressure to deliver a solo-hit. His performance in this movie is uneven to say the least. There are some portions where he excels but for a major portion of the movie he chooses to play it straight without that certain pizzazz, smoothness or finesse which the role so desperately required. He needs to work on some dance moves. Dancing is not one of Abhishek Bachchan's strength's but he developed his own unique style in YUVA (Dola Dola song) which worked and was successful. But now it's getting repetitive .

Three fantastic reasons why this movie is worth watching once- Riteish Deshmukh, Nana Patekar and the humor they bring to the movie. Riteish might well be the suprise package of the movie. He's one of those actors who's been making quiet yet steady progress. He has come a long way from his disastrous debut - Out of Control, turning in a fine comic performance in Masti. In this movie too he shines as the wannabe cool, eager to please shishya (student). He oozes confidence and provokes consistent laughter with his comic timing and funny dialogues.

But Nana's performance blows us away. He virtually steals the show every time he appears on the screen. The movie has reserved some of the better-crafted lines for nana to chew on and he delivers them with spontaneous ease leaving the viewers in splits. Boman Irani is strangely subdued.

The music is awesome, but the picturizations leaves a lot to be desired. Clearly Indian directors and choreographers are hell bent upon importing the American Hip-hop influence into their movies. Good for them. Let's see how long this trend shall continue.

Bluffmaster - Unimpressive effort.

-Nav

Bush being Bush

2005-12-15T06:14:00.000-05:00

Hello

This blog is meant to be a forum through which I could voice my opinions and general commentary usually pertaining but not restricted to movies, music, books, sports and any other subject which captures my attention. That being said let me get to the point.

I just read that President Bush has an idea to help with the gasoline problems. He recently said,

"We can all pitch in … by being better conservers of energy," Bush said after hearing a briefing at the Energy Department. "I mean, people just need to recognize that the storms have caused disruption and that if they're able to maybe not drive … on a trip that's not essential, that would be helpful."

If ideas like that makes a person become president, sign me up. COME ON! Gas is already like $2.18 per gallon! What moron wouldn't know to limit their driving?!
President Bush also held a meeting on TV the other day about the hurricanes. I've never heard a person so unprepared. He also made this comment:

President Bush: I will do everything possible as long as the law allows.

Last time I checked, he has most of the say in things. Isn't he, in a round about way, the law?! Come on!!

If this guy was applying as Donald Trump's apprentice , he'd be fired by now!!

-Nav

Bollywood at Work

2005-12-15T02:42:00.000-05:00

Alright! In one of my earlier posts I'd mentioned how Bollywood producers and directors conveniently rip off or are "inspired" by foreign movies especially Hollywood. So I went about and did a little bit of research and came up with this list of hindi movies that were released this year (2005). I'm sure they were plenty of such movies released in the years before..but I feel this year the number has been particularly high. I've also provided links to reviews of the Original movies for you to compare the degree of inspiration. So here goes:-

1) Ek Ajnabee - As I've mentioned in the movie review, this is a blatant copy of the Hollywood flick "Man on fire". Not only does Ek Ajnabee present similar set-up scenes and set pieces, it also has characters mouth the same dialouge!

2) Deewane Huey Pagal - The basic story structure of DHP is a copy of the hit farelly brothers comedy "There's something about Mary". Director Vikram Bhatt has a long history of desperately looking towards hollywood for inspiration soon after he directs something original-- cos most of his original work is garbage. It's actually quite remarkable how this person is still permitted to make movies. But I must admit that I enjoyed watching DHP. Although both movies follow a similar storyline, DHP contains fantastic, humorous dialouges and slapstick situational comedy. Presence of Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, and others make this an enjoyable film. The Music director does his bit too and virtually dubs Kevin Lyttle's International hit - Turn me on. I guess anything goes in a Vikram Bhatt movie.

3) Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina - Although I'm yet to watch this movie..reliable sources inform me that this is a remake of the hollywood movie - Confidence starring Ed Burns and Dustin Hoffman.

4) Siskiyaan and Dansh - Not one but TWO movies share the plot of Roman Polanski's psychological drama - Death and the Maiden. Siskiyaan stars Neha Dupia and Sonu Sood. Oh god. A word about Neha Dupia. I personally feel she's not any worse than some of the current actresses out there. I admire her for her gutsy role in "Julie" which in the hands of a better director could've turned out to be better than the sleazy, exploitative and ridiculous movie it ended up being. Somehow Neha Dupia has got typecasted as a glamour girl an image she's trying hard to shed. But it's not so easy.

Dansh Starring Sonali Kulkarni and Kay Kay menon immediately finds more credibility cos of the level of performances provided by the lead actors. Both Sonali and Kay Kay s are serious, thinking actors. It's a slightly better remake and keeps the viewers interested till the end.

5) Chocolate - The essential storyline is inspired by cult Hollywood favorite - The Usual Suspects. Although director Vivek Agnihotri plays around with the plot introducing minor changes and songs and such. Nevertheless viewers who've watched the original will be well aware of which way the movie will turn out.

6) Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya - This is a clever rip off a classic American comedy Cactus Flower with Salman Khan, Sushmita Sen and Katrina kaif playing the roles of Walther Mathau, Ingrid Bergman and Goldie Hawn respectively. Incidentally Goldie hawn won an oscar for best supporting actress for role in this movie something which I don't expect Katrina kaif to emulate although she is one on primary reasons i'd watched this movie. Arshad Warsi proves that he is a comic genius.

7) Dus - The basic premise of Dus is a copy of Usual Suspects (See above for link). The director and screenwriters attempt to build a story around it..but it fails.

8) Fareb - Starring Manoj Bajpai and shetty sisters. This movie is a remake of the late 80's Harrison ford starrer Presumed Innocent. It's quite shocking that some directors do not have even the ability to remake a movie. How hard can it really be? A sad bit of filmaking.

9) Bachke Rehna Re Baba- Everybody knows this is an almost scene by scene remake of Heartbreakers. The original was crappy enough..and the remake is so horribly distasteful that it almost makes the original seem like a great piece of filmaking. Hats off to Mallika sherawat and Govind Menon and others associated with this production.

10) Main Aisa Hi Hoon - To an outsider viewing this movie it would seem like Ajay Devgan had just delivered a brilliant parody of Sean Penn's performance in I am Sam. But no. This is a real, serious performance. while the original managed to provide some sort of emotion to the proceedings..the only emotion one would get after watching this mind-numbing POS would be to actually go out and shoot somebody.

11) Zeher - Emraan Hashmi, Udita Goswami star in this listless, dull remake of Out of Time.

12) Kasak - Lucky Ali stars in this dreadful, misinterpreted remake of the great Krzysztof Kieslowski's White which was part of his Red, Blue, White Trilogy. Kieslowski's movies are revered and represent some of the finest in modern moviemaking. One would forget kasak within a few hours...if you're lucky!

13) Jurm - Director Vikram Bhatt's been busy this year. Jurm is a remake of Ashley Judd's Double Jeopardy.

14) Sarkar - RGV proudly announced that sarkar would be his tribute to the Godfather. well atleast he's being open about it. Or rather was there any choice? GodFather is probably one of the most watched movies of ALL Time. Surely somebody would've noticed the similarity in the plots.

- Nav

India's Comprehensive Victory at Kotla

2005-12-15T02:24:00.000-05:00

India comfortably defeated the visiting Sri lankan team by 188 runs in the 2nd Test match at the Ferozshah Kotla.
Anil Kumble once again proved how dangerous he can be on sub-continental conditions and also his special affinity for the Kotla (also the venue where he picked 10 wickets in the an innings). He won the man of the match award for his overall effort of 10 for 157.

For a while it looked like Srilanka could take control of the match, eyeing a sizeable 1st innings lead after Muralitharan had worked out the Indian batting. But a mini collapse ( 4 wickets for some 20 odd runs) put India firmly in control of the match. This match would also be remembered for Sachin's record breaking effort. He now is the highest scorer of test match centuries.

The next match is scheduled at Ahmedabad. Another "traditional" typical Indian wicket designed to favor the Indian spinners. Saurav Ganguly has been dropped for the next match. This would only lead to more speculation as to the future of Ganguly's Test career.

-Nav

Lara and Tendulkar - Part One

2005-12-10T15:25:00.000-05:00

For all those avid cricket watchers who grew up and spent their formative years in the 90's and early part of this decade, no two other cricketers have had such a tremendous impact on our collective viewing experiences. They have inspired us with their heroics and their often thrilling, match-winning knocks. They have completely different batting styles but both are equally capable of destroying bowling attacks.
Lara's an artist with the willow. His relaxed, languid and very often lazy approach to batting is a treat to the eyes. He weaves his bat like a magic wand. He can play the most unconventional, yet elegant strokes with exaggerated bat swing often mocking field placements. There is no better sight in world cricket than watching Brian Lara in full flow, his nimble footwork , the flick of the wrists resulting in a flurry of boundaries all over the ball park.

Tendulkar is a naturally attacking player. Like a lion waiting to pounce upon his prey, he targets specific bowlers (usually the best bowler of the opposing bowling attack) and unleashes the most exhilirating array of shots usually hit with minumum fuss but with maximum power. How often have we seen Tendulkar hit those shots straight down the ground past the bowler with a straight bat. Or perfectly execute the cut shot past waiting gully and fielders positioned at square? Or his famous slog sweep which he uses most effectively to counter leg spinners coming around the wicket to exploit the rough? Or his delectable late cuts or the paddle sweeps? Tendulkar can play all the shots in the book.
During his magical years (1995-1999) he virtually dominated every bowler in world cricket except perhaps Glenn McGrath, the great Australian opening fast bowler. It was during this period that Tendulkar was at the peak of his physical, athletic ability and supremely confident in his own batting to take on any bowler under any conditions. This was quite evident during the 1996 ICC cricket world cup where Tendulkar emerged as the highest run-scorer and perhaps singlehandedly brought India close to their second world cup finals. Unfortunately, although Tendulkar was enjoying huge personal success ,the Indian cricket team, as a whole ,were progressively moving from bad to..very bad, in light of their disastrous Tour of England(1996)

More disappointments were to follow.Tendulkar was offered the captaincy in 1997 which was well deserved but could've not come at a worse time. He had to lead weak, inexperienced teams who were not quite ready to face the pressures of international cricket save for players like Ganguly, Dravid and VVS laxman, who had showed glimpes of their potential and who along with Tendulkar, would form the back-bone of the re-emergent Indian team in the years to come. The burden of captaincy was increased by the continous lack of professionalism and ineptitude displayed by the selectors by bringing in the below-average (Rathour, W.V.Raman), persisting with the over-the-hill (Azharuddin, Sidhu,Manjrekar) and by not adequately strengthening the bowling rotation - inclusion of Dodda ganesh, Harvinder Singh,David Johnson, N.Hirwani was nobody's idea of progress.
The subsequent, wretched away tours to South Africa and the West Indies thoroughly exposed the inadequacies of the Indian cricket team. Tendulkar was relieved of this burden (thankfully) although his own personal batting form was never effected (posting more than 1000 runs per calendar year) and he promptly went about destroying the visiting Australians at home (1998). His "Controlled Agression" batting took new levels with his now memorable and often discussed exploits at Sharjah.

1999 might've well been the year Tendulkar (reluctantly?) paused and reflected on his game and his revised role for a what would appear to be a string of much needed changes initiated towards the end of the year and beginning of a new millenium. The public outcry for these changes although long over-due was brought about for two primary reasons, in addition to what had been a generally depressing year - The disappointing 1999 World cup campaign in England where India once again failed to create an impact and Tendulkar's performance was moderate at best (Tendulkar's father passed away during the World cup and he missed a game to attend the final rites and returned to score a century against Kenya in the next match) . Once again Tendulkar was offered the role of captaincy but it prove to be equally disastrous as his previous tenure with the absolutely horrifying tour to Australia. India could only manage a solitary win in a series mercilessly dominated by the Aussies. Tendulkar was the only player who could withstand the Australian bowlers but his innings was often cut short by some poor umpiring decisions.
How often have we witnessed the aggression and genius of one player creating a spark within the team inspiring them to greater and bigger things? Sucess feeds more success.But the exact opposite holds true also wherein even the best player can succumb to the continous failures and desperations of a team. Tendulkar seemed personally effected by the team's poor performance and the Australian bowlers cleverly exploited minor chinks in his batting, as he barely contributed in the ODI games which followed. Tendulkar has not been the same batsmen ever since. As the dust settled, fringe players (S.Ramesh, D.Gandhi, H.Kanitkar) were set aside and intense re-evaluations were conducted.

The dawn of a new year ushered in the Era of John Wright-Saurav Ganguly; a time for re-building and discovering new and exciting players, widening the resource pool, emphasis on the team. Tendulkar was content to play the role assigned to him, preferring to step away from the spotlight and carrying the burden of Star Performer. As one grows wiser they start looking at success differently. There is a loss of innocence..or Exuberance of youth as Sidhu would say. Tendulkar has embraced the success of the team. Not that he wasn't committed to team success earlier. But this time he has willingly altered his way of batting to suit the needs of the team,something which he's never done before. Or perhaps this a natural transition. This would include cutting down all "risky" shots (he hardly plays the pull shot) playing percentage cricket, occupation of the crease and compiling runs rather than bludgeoning them.

This new role has gone well with the new look Indian team. They've emerged as a strong, vibrant, intelligent team in world cricket, under the tough leadership of Saurav Ganguly. Their first test was the World-beating Australia's tour to India (2001). In short India beat the visitors 2-1 in one of the best test series ever to be played. And they continued to make rapid strides fiercely challenging England and West Indies at their own backyards.

And exactly four years after the traumatic 1999-2000 season, India powered by an exceptional, all-round team performance hit a winning streak to secure a place in the 2003 ICC World Cup Championships. And when India toured Australia later that year it proved to be a fantastic sequel to the epic 2001 contest with both teams trading blows in a keenly contested series with Australia narrowly escaping a series defeat at home.

But I've gotten carried away by India's success while the emphasis should've been on Tendulkar. Tendulkar's is an integral member of the Indian team, his mature, responsible knocks, building vital partnerships often pulling India out of a spot of bother and into a position of strength. He has now developed other facets of his game and hardly plays a shot in anger. This is quite evident when a bowler bowls one a bit wide of the off-stick and Tendulkar either patiently let's the ball pass harmlessly or taps the ball in the gaps and accumalates singles. So to answer what everybody has been asking- Have we seen the best of Tendulkar? I say no..the best is here. We're witnessing the best of Tendulkar. His performances are finely tuned to team requirements, effective batting in place of glorious batting. He is building a strong legacy.

But every once in a while, when we watch Tendulkar blasting one through the covers, standing tall on his follow-thru', admiring his shot, those who were priveleged to witness those magic years, may not be able to contain a brief smirk, and proudly point out to the un-initated .."That's Vintage Sachin"

And I will think to myself, like that eloquent quote from the movie ElizabethTown - "In that moment I knew success not greatness was the only god the world served. "

-Nav

Sachin Tendulkar - The Man, The Legend.

2005-12-10T13:27:00.000-05:00

It had to happen at some point. This seems a season for new records. Coming close in the heels of Lara's achievement of overtaking Allan Border and becoming the leading run scorer in test match cricket, India's own cricketing genius, Sachin tendulkar, went past fellow countryman Sunny Gavaskar's long standing test cricket record (almost 20 years) when he reached the magical three figure mark for the 35th time in his career on day one of the 2nd test match at the Ferozeshah kotla.

For almost a decade now, most observers predicted that Tendulkar would break most, if not all, exisiting cricketing records and he has delivered. A cursory glance at his perfomances, in both formats of the game, speaks volumes of his abilities. Highest run scorer in One-day internationals? Most prolific century-maker in One day internationals!? Most number of ODI appearances!? Number 3 or Number 4 in highest Test averages amongst current players? Surely he is one of the best to have ever played the game.

And I'm quite certain that this back to back record breaking season would re-open the contentious debate ; Who is better batsmen - Lara or Tendulkar? Also I know it is rather impolite to be skeptical at such a joyous ocassion yet many within cricketing circles and individuals amongst the general public, including yours truly, feel the need to raise a pertinent question - whether we've seen the best of Tendulkar? It's an question which would sharply divide the cricketing fraternity and perhaps in some odd way this has affected Tendulkar's performances. But more on these debatable issues later.

Meanwhile here are some fascinating statistics for all those number-crunchers to help analyze Sachin's performance over the years courtesy Cricinfo

---> Look at the Numbers

-Nav

Ek Ajnabee Review

2005-12-10T01:44:00.000-05:00

Alright just came back from the screening of the hindi movie "Ek Ajnabee" Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Arjun Rampal, Perizaad Zoraiban.

It was a rather amusing viewing experience at this popular cineplex in Jersey city as the movie was interrupted several times much to the chagrin of the paying audience ; inversed screens, images without audio and vice versa and other technical difficulties. This may have in part effected the continuity of the movie thus lessening the overall impact.

But the movie is not without its flaws. This movie is an almost scene by scene remake of the Tony scott directed hollywood flick "Man on Fire" starring Denzel washington and Christopher walken. I could spend more time analyzing "Man on fire" but that I'll probably save for my next post. But what really annoys me, and this should be a cause for concern, is bollywood's disturbing trend of merrily "adapting" foreign movies. Are there no creative screenwriters in bollywood? Or they must have a real narrow view of indian movie watchers. But I digress. This shall also be the subject of a future post.

The reason I say "almost" scene by scene remake is cos a few extra scenes are added inorder to infuse some humor into this relentlessly bleak action drama. But the extra scenes, sadly, dont work and seem awkwardly out of place.

For those who've not watched "Man on fire" the story is as follows:

Amitabh Bachchan plays Retd. Colonel Suryaveer Singh, a closed-off loner with a troubled past. He is brought to bangkok by his close friend and former army pal Shekar (Arjun Rampal) who quickly hooks him up with a job as a bodyguard to Anamika (Rucha Vaidya) the young daughter of a wealthy indian businessman, (Vikram Chatwal) and his wife (Perizaad Zoraiban). Kidnappings are strife in the city of bangkok and kids like Anamika are ideal targets. Initially Surya resists Anamika's advances to become friends but as the movie progresses they become close and he takes on a father-figure role. However things go awfully wrong one day when Anamika is kidnapped and surya takes a few bullets in the process. While recovering in the hospital the ransom delivery attempt fails and Anamika is killed. An enraged Surya decides to eliminate anyone and everyone involved in the kidnapping. What follows is a trail of blood, torture, and retribution coupled with a few "desi" twists.

Amitabh Bachchan plays his role to perfection although it would be interesting yet unfair to compare his performance to that of Denzel washington. Amitabh potrays all facets of his character arc, troubled loner, father figure, vengeful killer, he does with charismatic ease. The pivotal aspect to the whole story is the relationship between Surya and Anamika and the director Apoorva Lakhia does well to meaningfully craft their encounters.
Rucha vaidya who plays Anamika does an effective job of creating a heart-warming character. She is sweet, likeable, and shows maturity beyond her years and when she is kidnapped the audience gets pulled into the story and they too seek violent retribution.
Arjun Rampal doesn't have much to do and does whatever little he has to do well. Perizad Zoraiban impresses as the grief-stricken mother. Kelly Dorjee and others are provided very little screen time.

The music intrudes the flow of the movie causing it to lose momentum at critical junctures. Especially the one song right after intermission where Amitabh goes after some low-level operators at a nightclub. The song and the choreography accompanying it is totally inappropriate. The music can at best be described as amatuerish with some outrageously funny (not intentional) lyrics. The intent was obviously to push for tough, in-yer-face lyrics but it falls flat. The background music is also inspired from the hollywood version and at one point an instrumental version of Marc Anthony's song is used.

Director Apoorva lakhia does a good job of mimicking Tony scott's patented, MTV-ish visual style. While this style seemed more suited to the hollywood version with the quick camera cuts, editing and stylized color formats accurately capturing the furious energy of Mexico city and the simmering rage prevelant throughout, it seems rather forced here.

But then how difficult can it really be to copy someone else's work?

-Nav