Confusing yet interesting

I have to confess that I understood only 25 % of this movie's plot, and even the best of the critics had a tough time following the plot on this Michael Mann's latest flick. But still it delivers the expected from the Man'n'. Don't bother much of what’s happening and just concentrate on how it’s happening and I guarantee that you will find this movie as a visual treat.

Colin Farrell looks awesome in his new avatar and Jamie foxx is as usually cool. Like Collateral, this movie too has got some great kill scenes. If you were thrilled and shocked by those scenes in Collateral, you might applaud and then have a good hearted laugh for one such scene in this one.

Unlike "Heat" and "Collateral", this one lacks depth and follows the beaten path of a routine Hollywood action flick. Nonetheless, everything is stylishly done and you wouldn't complain if you like predictable yet thrilling action films.

Bedtime story for adults.

Watching Shyamalayan's latest venture "Lady in the water" reminds me of what Sidney pollack said in his book (Making Movies) about the importance of "Style" for a movie. As per Pollack, style refers to the tone of the movie and the script decides the appropriate style for the movie. In my opinion this is exactly where this movie fails ( in finding the right style for the movie).

This bedtime story would have been bearable if it was told in a silly manner, like a cartoon. But Shyamalan makes an unforgivable mistake of adopting his typical way for telling this story. Imagine watching a bedtime story happening in a contemporary world where all the adults take part in ludicrous tricks without even questioning the cause and asking the audience to empathize with their actions. Undeniably, this is Shyamalan at his worst but if you are a fan of his style and approach and you don't mind wasting two hours of your time to watch a few moments of brilliant scenes here and there, go ahead and you will not be disappointed.

A memorable experience

I just came home after witnessing an event which I will remember for a long long time. It's AR Rahman's Show here in hollywood. I grew up listening to the tunes of Illyaraja and Rahman and off late I am not in a good touch with the happenings in Indian cinema. But AR Rahman draws a special attention. I have not been a hard core fan of Rahman but without making any conscious effort, its his and only his music that fills my play list.

Did I enjoy the show ?? Hell yes I did but with a few considerations here and there. I had that hair raising experience after seeing THE MAN in flesh and blood which I never expected that I could feel. Anyway as I said I have a few things on my mind which has bothered me throughout the show and here they are:

1) Rahman did not speak for more than a minute during the entire show. As he made his appearance he went straight to his keyboard and started humming "Dilse" and I thought may be that’s his way of starting the show and may be he would greet us after the song. But that did not happen and near the end of the show there was not even a proper goodbye. I did not wish or hope for a full blown speech but at least a minute's greeting for the people who have come all the way from hundreds of miles would have made me happy. The only words that came from his mouth at the end were "Thank you". Yes, those were the only words.

Speaking frankly, by the time I reached home and thought about this I formed a convincing explanation for all this. May be that’s his nature and may be we should not expect him to wear a false mask for us. Its much better being himself rather than pretending being nice to make us happy. May be he is very happy to see all this crowd and may be he doesn't know how to express it.

2) Well coming to the second reason, Rahman never sings or lets his singers sing in telugu on his shows !!!!! I cannot find a possible convincing explanation for it.
Yes, I don't know if he does that intentionally or he just fails to notice that his music has more fans (and does much more business) in telugu than in tamil. I don't know.
Rahman worked as a keyboard player for "Koti" ( a successful music director in telugu) before starting his career and that makes me feel he does know the language. Then why Mr Rahman, what's wrong with us ???

3) Coming to the actual show and the music, I expected "Chaiyya Chaiyya" to rock the stadium but surprisingly it was way worse than the semi-finals on the "Indian Idol 2". "Rang de basanti" was sung by an american with horrible pronunciations but still it was good.

Enough about my complaints. May be I am giving the impression that the show was not worth it. No way, It is AR RAHMAN up there and catching a glimpse of him itself is worth buying the ticket. Though I get a little bit disappointed about his aversion to telugu, I admire his love and respect for his mother tongue. His rendition of "Humma Humma" in tamil would be the second best song in the show. My pick for the best song will be "Vandemaataram" which made me very emotional and to my surprise even a bit patriotic for a moment there.

Celebration of mediocirty

http://indiafm.com/news/2006/07/13/7436/index.html

I just read this on india fm and I have to say that this foolishness cannot be expressed in words. How in the world can a movie which is nothing but a collection of all the cliches that you could imagine be an academic subject. May be this should be an academic subject because it's the closest one which has all the ingredients of a classic bollywood' s trash.

It just breaks my heart to see this movie succeed. May god save Indian cinema.

A genuine horror

“Three extremes” like our Varma’s anthology of horrors (Darna mana hai) is collection of short films; actually it’s three of them. But unlike any American or desi horror we got used to see, this movie does not rely on shocks or in the supernatural. Remember the nightmares that all of us have once in a while in which we want to get out of and once we wake up we are so glad that it is all a dream?? Well, this movie produces almost the same effect.

The movie is as they say “different from the usual” but it is not different just for the sake of it. But I should warn you that it’s highly possible that you might throw up or end up having nightmares for weeks after watching the first story.
This movie makes its mark in my list of best horrors of all time. Of course after “The Exorcist” and “The Shining”.

Finally got my adsense

After months of deliberation I finally placed these google ads on my blog.
I would be more than happy if I can make a buck in a month with the help of it.