I don't know if dreams are supposed to make some sense or not but everyone of us knows how weird and crazy they can be. I never tried to analyze any dream of mine and even if I did I never found any answers on why I had a dream like that. The main reason for this being that I forget what the dream was about as soon as I wake up. I know that some people have this super natural ability of remembering dreams for so long that they narrate it in great detail the following morning. My retention time is pretty short, actually really really short, like 30 seconds once I wake up. However, once in a blue moon I will have this really demented dream that I would remember a little longer, like say..till 2 minutes.
I just woke up from this demented dream and I tried really hard re-collecting what it was about for the next 3 minutes. There were actually 3 episodes (dreams often occur in episodes, like a twilight zone series) in this dream of which I could remember only 2. But suddenly, in a flash of second, I remembered what that missing episode was. Anyway, here they are and my analysis on probabilities of why I had this dream:
Episode 1: My un-eventful wedding
The dream: It's my wedding on 19th. I don't know which month and which year it is but strangely, only the date and 19th is nearing by. I did not invite anybody, not even the closest of my friends. It was not a deliberate decision but because I did not think it was that important and nor I was excited about the wedding day. Me and my parents were unaware of the approaching date and we almost forgot the wedding date (the way we sometimes forget our birthdates till that very date) and only on 19th morning did we realize that it was my wedding date. So, in a great hurry, the preparations began. We got a call from the bride's home that they will be arriving by evening, as the wedding was in our place. I started getting all dressed up and I was neither excited nor depressed, but just indifferent to the entire process and very very tense about how I should reveal this rude surprise to my close friends that I got married without informing/inviting any one of them and pissed at myself and my parents that we forgot my wedding day.
We were ready for the show by evening and when the muhurtam time came, we realized that there were no guests, not a single soul. We were shocked and finally made a decision to post-pone the event.
My analysis: I never gave a serious thought to marriage till now or should I say, I gave so much serious thought to it that I convinced myself that marriage is not for me. The reasons for this will take a whole new blog (sometime soon). Anyway, the point is that I have been trying to avoid my marraige and in my last trip to India, I had a very tough time convinincing my parents on canceling a marriage proposal they brought to my attention. I assured them that I will get married but the time is not now. In every one of my phone call to India, my dad somehow tries to bring this topic into the discussion and I always find a way to avoid it. And I have this strong gut feeling that if I get married just for my parent's sake, it is going to be a disaster. But, I don't spend too much time thinking about this topic in my daily life. Probably, the few minutes of my phone call to India revolves on this topic and I forget it immediatly. So, there must be something lurking in my sub-consious mind that unleashes in the form of this dream. Was the dream seconding my gut feeling that my marriage will be a disaster?? I don't know.
Episode 2: The nosy neighbour
The dream : I was in my small and little home in Vijayawada with a friend. It's actually a joint complex of 4 homes where I lived all my life. We live in the first portion and rented the other poritions to families. Apparently, we sold our house to this guy and now we are living in what used to be our home by paying rent to him. Anyway, I don't know who this guy is but my friend told me that he is a very nosy guy and he wants to know everything that goes on in everyone's personal lives. We were playing , is it caromboard or chess I don't remember, and we thought it would be good idea to close all the doors, windows so that he would not hear us. We were just talking about some stuff and I realized that the back door was slightly ajar and there was a guy standing behind. I immediatly realized it must be the owner though I have never seen him. Since even he knows that I don't know him, I thought it won't be problem if I yell at him. I yelled and he left and I closed the door. We resumed our chat and now this guy was peeking from the side window. I got furious and yelled at him again. Then he came in and told us that he was just wondering if we needed anything to drink or eat. He also warned that we are loud to which I got very angry and disgusted. This used to be my home for god's sake. He called his wife, who came with her little daughter who could not be more than 3 years old but all dressed up in a school uniform.
I observed that she had no legs. Her mom called me and requested my help in pulling her leg. I said "What" and then she lifted her daughter by the shoulders and told me that her legs are inside her body. I saw them and it was a very weird sight. Her legs were stored inside her body and once we started pulling them, they came out and then she started walking. The lady then brought us some iced tea with whipped cream (Yes, it is weird).
My analysis: We still own our home. It's only in my dream that we sold it to this unknown guy. But the thing is that we are in a financial limbo, where we might have to sell our home to meet some other needs. I always opposed my father in his decision of selling the home and tried to find some money in meeting the goals. The reason being that I love that home though it is of no use to us now. I lived all my life there and all my memories of childhood and early adulthood are tied to that home. This is the place I want to stay in during my last days.
So, is the dream an indication that we should not be selling our home? I don't know.
Episode 3: Tryst with Tarantino
The dream: Again, it's in Vijayawada and it is near Urvashi center. I was driving in a car (though I never drove one in real life) and was trying to find a place to park. I happened to see the people in the other car in the parking lot. They were Quentin tarantino, Oliver Stone and one guy, let's call him G, from our office. I thought they must be there for the premiere of W. I don't know why but I felt a combination of a great excitement of seeing QT and jealousy on seeing them with this guy called G. G would not know squat about movies and what QT and Oliver stone mean to movies. If there's anybody who should be hanging out with them, it should be me. Anyway, QT gets out of the car and I give him a smile and he returns it. I go near him and offering a hand shake and I tell him " I am a big fan of yours" like every other guy who meets a celebrity and CUT..Time to wake up.
My analysis: I am huge huge huge fan of QT and to an extent I like works of Oliver stone, whose "Natural born Killers" is my all time favorite. I always wondered on what I should say when I meet QT as there are so many things I want to ask him and so many things I want to tell him about how his body of work has impacted me. The reason being that I now live very close to hollywood and I often to go to these theatres where this a good chance of celebrity spottings. QT being a regular to those theatres, there is also a good chance of bumping into him.
So, when I think about what I should say when I meet him, I am usually left with a feeling of despair. If I say something cliched like "I am a big fan of yours", I will be treated like every other guy who saw his movies.
Also, QT and Oliver stone don't see eye to eye as they had a big fight over natural born killers. But I love both of them and often wondered what it would be like if they get back together.
The only part I am still concerned about this episode is, what has Mr G got to do anything with this?
Friday, October 17, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
My best history lesson
I watched "Shiva" when I was 9 years old and till this date that's my most memorable movie experience. I did not know who Ram gopal varma was as I was too young to care about who the director of any movie was. Later, down the years I came to know about his movies but very little about him. Ramu was my most favorite director along with Maniratnam in those days. I formed a mental picture about what this guy was like through his movie. But in those days, as there weren't any TV channels and as I had no access to any film magazines, I never read any interview of his except from listening to some people saying that he is a very arrogant person.
After the advent of internet, I think in 1999 I came across this fansite for RGV and for the first time I read some of his interviews. I was shocked on reading some of them as RGV from those interviews turned out to be very different from what I imagined. Even till today, after reading/watching hundreds of interviews of him, I still get those shocks. I think that is most unique trait of the maverick Ram gopal Varma.
My fascination with most of the actors, directors dies out after knowing everything there is know about them (professional and personal). Infact, most of them are very normal and uninteresting and there is very little that is worth knowing, especially the big ones. Probably, this is why I still follow every interview of RGV with a great interest. I never get to understand him and just when I think I am getting closer, RGV says something that will make you wonder if you know him at all.
One thing that has been most common about this man is that he talks very little about his personal life. I am not interested in personal lives of any celebrities but RGV is an exception. I used to read interviews of every actor/technician/writer who has ever worked with RGV with a hope that they will reveal something about this man that I don't get to know directly from his interviews. The most curious aspect of RGV's career to me was how a guy with no practical expereince in any department of cinema and with no friends/relatives in that field got a chance to direct a movie, that too in telugu where the issues like family, caste and experience matter a lot. I never really got a concrete answer to that question from anybody.
A sigh of relief. After 16 years, the wait is finally over. The man never ceases to amaze me. RGV in his blog started writing about his first break and reading about the behind the scenes of "Shiva" is the best history lesson (if history is the right word) ever.
Waiting for more from RGV......
After the advent of internet, I think in 1999 I came across this fansite for RGV and for the first time I read some of his interviews. I was shocked on reading some of them as RGV from those interviews turned out to be very different from what I imagined. Even till today, after reading/watching hundreds of interviews of him, I still get those shocks. I think that is most unique trait of the maverick Ram gopal Varma.
My fascination with most of the actors, directors dies out after knowing everything there is know about them (professional and personal). Infact, most of them are very normal and uninteresting and there is very little that is worth knowing, especially the big ones. Probably, this is why I still follow every interview of RGV with a great interest. I never get to understand him and just when I think I am getting closer, RGV says something that will make you wonder if you know him at all.
One thing that has been most common about this man is that he talks very little about his personal life. I am not interested in personal lives of any celebrities but RGV is an exception. I used to read interviews of every actor/technician/writer who has ever worked with RGV with a hope that they will reveal something about this man that I don't get to know directly from his interviews. The most curious aspect of RGV's career to me was how a guy with no practical expereince in any department of cinema and with no friends/relatives in that field got a chance to direct a movie, that too in telugu where the issues like family, caste and experience matter a lot. I never really got a concrete answer to that question from anybody.
A sigh of relief. After 16 years, the wait is finally over. The man never ceases to amaze me. RGV in his blog started writing about his first break and reading about the behind the scenes of "Shiva" is the best history lesson (if history is the right word) ever.
Waiting for more from RGV......
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
The Golden triangle tour
I did not step my foot out of my home state Andhra pradesh till I was 18. Even at 18, I went outside AP only for a day to Chennai to get my visa for USA. I distinclty remember that during my second grade in Kendriya Vidyalaya, our Social Studies text book had a separate chapter for each Indian State. I used to love that book and especially the pictures in it. My personal favorite was Qutub Minar. I don't know why, but I used to think that Qutub Minar was the tallest construction ever and I used to dream about it. Any way, years passed but I never got a chance to visit those places.
Atleast, after I grew up and started making my living out here in USA, I roamed around the world and visited a lot of places. But my parents (especially my mother. Dad atleast roams the city) never got a chance to see the world outside our home. So, I planned this North India trip last year and this year during my India trip, we did it. So, here is my Travelogue:
Starting Point: Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh:
We booked our travel package with Southern Travels, Vijayawada. Looks like this organization is very famous with most of the South Indians (especially telugu people). They charged a very minimal amount, in my opinion, for the actual trip but very unfair amount on the hotel stay. The people at the hotel were very indifferent and rude as well, (more on this later).
We took a train (GT) from Vijayawada to Delhi and as per our Railways, it's a Superfast express. The train and calling it a Superfast express is a big joke. I would have reached Delhi faster if I started out on my bike. Thought the journey was pretty slow, I got a chance to take a closer look at many villages, small towns of my India. I almost felt ashamed of not travelling and not knowing my own country. Maharastra was vast , wild and wonderful. I think we passed through a national reserve during our journey. I got to see some wild animals and many many many monkeys in this region.
The train finally reached Delhi nearly after 27-30 hours. After getting to the hotel (only after 2 hours of waiting did we get a room, which we reserved a week ago) and getting freshed up, we took a local tour with some local travel agency. The fare was Rs 120 per person and in my opinion that's a steal.
New Delhi Tour in 8 hours
The guy who took us in to the bus was very dishelved and shouted at us in hindi for being late. I thought he was a spare driver or the cleaner of the bus. Surprisingly after the bus started, he took the mike in his hand and started speaking, " Good morning , 'the' ladies and 'the' gentlemen. Welcome to the New Delhi tour". I was taken aback. This guy was our guide and to my surprise ,he spoke understandable english if not good and was very knowledgable in his area. Our first stop was at Laxmi Narayan temple in Mandir Marg.
Birlas have built a lot of temples all over India but I think this was the best among what I have seen so far. It was very spacious and peaceful, except for some local guys running around foreigners. Unfortunately no photography was allowed.
After visiting the temple, we were asked to board the bus on the other side of the raod. There was a subway that we took to get to the other side and it's the single most horrible experience of the entire journey. The subway stinked of urine, piss and god knows what...the smell was unbearable.
After Mandir Marg, we stopped at the Indira Gandhi memorial. This place was formerly the home for our late PM Mrs. Indira Gandhi and her family. After her death, they made it into a musuem. The museum had a lot , really a lot of pictures of her and her family. Also were some of her personal stuff, her favorite books, clothes e.t.c.
Seeing the clothes Mrs Gandhi wore on her day of assasination was a little creepy and so was the place where she was shot down.
After the museum, the next stop was near the Parliament house and President's house. As per our guide, tourists were not allowed near the Parliament house. So, we had to stop nearly a couple of hundred meters away from it and just take a look. This part of the city was really good looking wide wide roads and disciplined traffic. This makes me wonder when we really have the intelligence and the resources to build such roads, why can't our govt apply the same model to the whole city. Because, outside this region and except for some wealthy areas, the rest of Delhi was really really ugly.
After this, our guide showed the residence of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh while driving. We could not stop at these locations for the obvious reasons. Next was "India Gate". I still don't know (even after the grueling lectures from school and after even more grueling lecture by our guide) the difference between India Gate and Gateway of India (in Mumbai) and what they stand for for. Anyway, the architecture and the locale were very impressive.
It was time for lunch and here is the interesting part with the travel agencies. During this entire trip of 3 days, they take us to specific location for lunches/dinners which according to them is the best place in the town. They would not let us eat else where. Obviously, they have a commision from the restaurant owners. I don't have a problem with that but what I have a problem with is paying Rs 60 for a single plate of Idly.
After lunch, I was told we will be visiting Qutub Minar. I got goose bumps after seeing the Minar even from a half kilometer. I loved this sight even more than Taj Mahal. Somehow, Qutub minar was my childhood favorite and seeing it for real made me immensely happy.
I don't exactly remember the history surrounding the Qutub Minar but the area was some sort of fort for one of the local kings. I used to think that Qutub Minar by itself would be an isolated construction in a desolated area. Not true. There were lot of Mughal forts just near the Minar and it was really breathtaking. The detail of the stone carvings was mind boggling. Here's one snap.
We were already very tired and did not even have the energy to wait in line to get into the Lotus temple. The line was just too long. So, we just saw the temple from the outside. Ofcourse, it was brilliant.
The final stop of our Local Delhi tour was Raj Ghat, Mahatma Gandhi's memorial. After looking at sprawling acres of just vacant land I would be convinced if somebody was to claim that half of Delhi's area belongs to family of Gandhi's funerals, homes, memorials and museums. No offense to any Gandhi (whom I respect and revere) but when thousands of people are homeless in that very city, I thought it made no sense in having hundreds of acres for a funeral.
We drove through Shakthi Sthal after this but our guide did not make a stop as it was already dark and this concluded our Delhi Tour.
Day Two: Jaipur
After a night's stay in Delhi, we had to start at 6:00 am in the morning for the next destination Jaipur. When people used to say that Delhi, agra , Jaipur are not that far from each other , I used to think that the distance between each place would be nearly 50 to 70 km. I was surprised to learn that it's nearly 300 km during my trip. Anyway, we reached Jaipur at Lunch time and the first tourist spot was Amber Fort.
As per our guide, the city was built around 9th century and after Muslim invasion some of the hindu constructions were demolished to make way for mosques. Still, there are some hindu constructions (note this, from 9th century) left untouched in this vicinity. We took a Jeep to get to the top of the Amber Fort and the sight of the town from the top of the fort was breath taking. Mughals indeed knew how to live.
I am an iliterate of Mughal history but my dad is an expert in it. He devoured history books during his teenage years and can narrate the story as movie director would. He was really fascinated with the tour and that made my tour worth it. I too was bowled over by the ancient construction but after the hours of guided tour, I can't really remember which building is what and who constructed it. So, instead of misquoting the locations, I will just insert the pictures for the ones that I am not aware of what they are.
( The construction in above picture is Jal mahal. We were told we cannot stop at this location as the water really stinks. Tourism board has done less than impressive job in preserving this monument. Looks like it is going to get a make over. http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/sep/29spec1.htm)
Above is Hawa Mahal. In addition to Delhi's Qutub minar, Hawa mahal used to be another favorite of mine during my school days. The way I pictured it during my schooldays and the way the Mahal is actually located are strikingly different. I used to think Hawa mahal was some sort of fort and would be located far far from the actual city. However, the fact is that it is not actually a Mahal but just a facade built for the royal women to watch the proceedings on the street.
Different people have different tastes. I loved Qutub Minar and my father's favorite was Jaipur fort. My mother liked the obvious, Taj mahal and it was my brother who went crazy after knowing Jantar Mantar. It was indeed incredible that in those days, centuries ago, our ancestors developed methods to calculate time right down to a second with such tools. Not just time, there were several constructions in this place which were used to draw astronomical charts, to find the birth signs of any individual, instruments that were used to name a person e.t.c. Most of the instruments you will get to see in this locations use a single tool to calculate everything : shadows from the sun rays.
Day 3: Fathehpur Sikri, Agra and Mathura
After spending the night in Jaipur, we had to start at 3:00 am on the following day as there was a long day ahead. Fathehpur Sikri before lunch and Taj mahal after it. Mathura in the evening and return to Delhi by night.
We did not get enough time to stroll and look around Fathehpur Sikri as our guide rushed us. The better option is to go on a 5 day tour instead like our 3 days.
Taj Mahal is indeed a beauty and looking at it I forgot all the monuments that I visited on the tour. It is unbelievable to think that Shahjahan even dreamt of constructing such a beauty in those years and it is difficult to even imagine what the construction workers had to go through in realizing his dream. Apparently, Shah jahan had a proposal to build another Taj mahal (in black) and even laid the foundation for it but even before he could start the construction, he was arrested by his own son (Aurangazeb) and was imprisoned in his own fort, where he eventually died. A romantic story indeed.
After Agra, we headed back home to Delhi and on the way was Mathura, the birth place of Lord Krishna. The place gave me goosebumps because of the Hindu-Muslim sensitiveness of the area. The area was invaded by some Muslims some centuries ago and they have built some mosques near by. So, all you see in this area are hindu temples surrounded by mosques. One can imagine the tension whenever a hindu-muslim riot should be triggered in a place like this.
This concluded our Golden triangle tour and the following day our flight back to hyderabad was at 3:00 pm. We planned to visit Aksharwadam temple before hitting the airport but unfortunately it rained very hard and we had to cancel our plans. For my mom and dad, it was their first time boarding a flight and I loved accompanying them.
Atleast, after I grew up and started making my living out here in USA, I roamed around the world and visited a lot of places. But my parents (especially my mother. Dad atleast roams the city) never got a chance to see the world outside our home. So, I planned this North India trip last year and this year during my India trip, we did it. So, here is my Travelogue:
Starting Point: Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh:
We booked our travel package with Southern Travels, Vijayawada. Looks like this organization is very famous with most of the South Indians (especially telugu people). They charged a very minimal amount, in my opinion, for the actual trip but very unfair amount on the hotel stay. The people at the hotel were very indifferent and rude as well, (more on this later).
We took a train (GT) from Vijayawada to Delhi and as per our Railways, it's a Superfast express. The train and calling it a Superfast express is a big joke. I would have reached Delhi faster if I started out on my bike. Thought the journey was pretty slow, I got a chance to take a closer look at many villages, small towns of my India. I almost felt ashamed of not travelling and not knowing my own country. Maharastra was vast , wild and wonderful. I think we passed through a national reserve during our journey. I got to see some wild animals and many many many monkeys in this region.
The train finally reached Delhi nearly after 27-30 hours. After getting to the hotel (only after 2 hours of waiting did we get a room, which we reserved a week ago) and getting freshed up, we took a local tour with some local travel agency. The fare was Rs 120 per person and in my opinion that's a steal.
New Delhi Tour in 8 hours
The guy who took us in to the bus was very dishelved and shouted at us in hindi for being late. I thought he was a spare driver or the cleaner of the bus. Surprisingly after the bus started, he took the mike in his hand and started speaking, " Good morning , 'the' ladies and 'the' gentlemen. Welcome to the New Delhi tour". I was taken aback. This guy was our guide and to my surprise ,he spoke understandable english if not good and was very knowledgable in his area. Our first stop was at Laxmi Narayan temple in Mandir Marg.
Birlas have built a lot of temples all over India but I think this was the best among what I have seen so far. It was very spacious and peaceful, except for some local guys running around foreigners. Unfortunately no photography was allowed.
After visiting the temple, we were asked to board the bus on the other side of the raod. There was a subway that we took to get to the other side and it's the single most horrible experience of the entire journey. The subway stinked of urine, piss and god knows what...the smell was unbearable.
After Mandir Marg, we stopped at the Indira Gandhi memorial. This place was formerly the home for our late PM Mrs. Indira Gandhi and her family. After her death, they made it into a musuem. The museum had a lot , really a lot of pictures of her and her family. Also were some of her personal stuff, her favorite books, clothes e.t.c.
Seeing the clothes Mrs Gandhi wore on her day of assasination was a little creepy and so was the place where she was shot down.
After the museum, the next stop was near the Parliament house and President's house. As per our guide, tourists were not allowed near the Parliament house. So, we had to stop nearly a couple of hundred meters away from it and just take a look. This part of the city was really good looking wide wide roads and disciplined traffic. This makes me wonder when we really have the intelligence and the resources to build such roads, why can't our govt apply the same model to the whole city. Because, outside this region and except for some wealthy areas, the rest of Delhi was really really ugly.
After this, our guide showed the residence of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh while driving. We could not stop at these locations for the obvious reasons. Next was "India Gate". I still don't know (even after the grueling lectures from school and after even more grueling lecture by our guide) the difference between India Gate and Gateway of India (in Mumbai) and what they stand for for. Anyway, the architecture and the locale were very impressive.
It was time for lunch and here is the interesting part with the travel agencies. During this entire trip of 3 days, they take us to specific location for lunches/dinners which according to them is the best place in the town. They would not let us eat else where. Obviously, they have a commision from the restaurant owners. I don't have a problem with that but what I have a problem with is paying Rs 60 for a single plate of Idly.
After lunch, I was told we will be visiting Qutub Minar. I got goose bumps after seeing the Minar even from a half kilometer. I loved this sight even more than Taj Mahal. Somehow, Qutub minar was my childhood favorite and seeing it for real made me immensely happy.
I don't exactly remember the history surrounding the Qutub Minar but the area was some sort of fort for one of the local kings. I used to think that Qutub Minar by itself would be an isolated construction in a desolated area. Not true. There were lot of Mughal forts just near the Minar and it was really breathtaking. The detail of the stone carvings was mind boggling. Here's one snap.
We were already very tired and did not even have the energy to wait in line to get into the Lotus temple. The line was just too long. So, we just saw the temple from the outside. Ofcourse, it was brilliant.
The final stop of our Local Delhi tour was Raj Ghat, Mahatma Gandhi's memorial. After looking at sprawling acres of just vacant land I would be convinced if somebody was to claim that half of Delhi's area belongs to family of Gandhi's funerals, homes, memorials and museums. No offense to any Gandhi (whom I respect and revere) but when thousands of people are homeless in that very city, I thought it made no sense in having hundreds of acres for a funeral.
We drove through Shakthi Sthal after this but our guide did not make a stop as it was already dark and this concluded our Delhi Tour.
Day Two: Jaipur
After a night's stay in Delhi, we had to start at 6:00 am in the morning for the next destination Jaipur. When people used to say that Delhi, agra , Jaipur are not that far from each other , I used to think that the distance between each place would be nearly 50 to 70 km. I was surprised to learn that it's nearly 300 km during my trip. Anyway, we reached Jaipur at Lunch time and the first tourist spot was Amber Fort.
As per our guide, the city was built around 9th century and after Muslim invasion some of the hindu constructions were demolished to make way for mosques. Still, there are some hindu constructions (note this, from 9th century) left untouched in this vicinity. We took a Jeep to get to the top of the Amber Fort and the sight of the town from the top of the fort was breath taking. Mughals indeed knew how to live.
I am an iliterate of Mughal history but my dad is an expert in it. He devoured history books during his teenage years and can narrate the story as movie director would. He was really fascinated with the tour and that made my tour worth it. I too was bowled over by the ancient construction but after the hours of guided tour, I can't really remember which building is what and who constructed it. So, instead of misquoting the locations, I will just insert the pictures for the ones that I am not aware of what they are.
( The construction in above picture is Jal mahal. We were told we cannot stop at this location as the water really stinks. Tourism board has done less than impressive job in preserving this monument. Looks like it is going to get a make over. http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/sep/29spec1.htm)
Above is Hawa Mahal. In addition to Delhi's Qutub minar, Hawa mahal used to be another favorite of mine during my school days. The way I pictured it during my schooldays and the way the Mahal is actually located are strikingly different. I used to think Hawa mahal was some sort of fort and would be located far far from the actual city. However, the fact is that it is not actually a Mahal but just a facade built for the royal women to watch the proceedings on the street.
Different people have different tastes. I loved Qutub Minar and my father's favorite was Jaipur fort. My mother liked the obvious, Taj mahal and it was my brother who went crazy after knowing Jantar Mantar. It was indeed incredible that in those days, centuries ago, our ancestors developed methods to calculate time right down to a second with such tools. Not just time, there were several constructions in this place which were used to draw astronomical charts, to find the birth signs of any individual, instruments that were used to name a person e.t.c. Most of the instruments you will get to see in this locations use a single tool to calculate everything : shadows from the sun rays.
Day 3: Fathehpur Sikri, Agra and Mathura
After spending the night in Jaipur, we had to start at 3:00 am on the following day as there was a long day ahead. Fathehpur Sikri before lunch and Taj mahal after it. Mathura in the evening and return to Delhi by night.
We did not get enough time to stroll and look around Fathehpur Sikri as our guide rushed us. The better option is to go on a 5 day tour instead like our 3 days.
Taj Mahal is indeed a beauty and looking at it I forgot all the monuments that I visited on the tour. It is unbelievable to think that Shahjahan even dreamt of constructing such a beauty in those years and it is difficult to even imagine what the construction workers had to go through in realizing his dream. Apparently, Shah jahan had a proposal to build another Taj mahal (in black) and even laid the foundation for it but even before he could start the construction, he was arrested by his own son (Aurangazeb) and was imprisoned in his own fort, where he eventually died. A romantic story indeed.
After Agra, we headed back home to Delhi and on the way was Mathura, the birth place of Lord Krishna. The place gave me goosebumps because of the Hindu-Muslim sensitiveness of the area. The area was invaded by some Muslims some centuries ago and they have built some mosques near by. So, all you see in this area are hindu temples surrounded by mosques. One can imagine the tension whenever a hindu-muslim riot should be triggered in a place like this.
This concluded our Golden triangle tour and the following day our flight back to hyderabad was at 3:00 pm. We planned to visit Aksharwadam temple before hitting the airport but unfortunately it rained very hard and we had to cancel our plans. For my mom and dad, it was their first time boarding a flight and I loved accompanying them.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Diablo ... You are AWESOME....
I have met Diablo Cody in person just hours ago and I am pinching myself to make sure this indeed happened. If I could choose to meet any 3 people in the world, Diablo would have topped that list along with Judd apatow and Quentin Tarantino. After watching Juno, her interviews and reading her blog, I was completely taken over and I became a big fan of her writing and more importantly, herself.She is probably the most daring, frank and interesting woman you would ever get to see and I am pissed at myself that I didn't have the nerve to prolong the conversation with her. I know everybody says the same thing when they meet a celebrity that they were very down to earth and friendly. I don't want to sound like a cliche, but Diablo was really cool and down to earth and that was certainly not a put-on to pretend that she was simple. She came to the theatre like everybody else, parked the car on the street and walked straight into the theatre. She is a regular at the New beverly theatre and knows the names of all the staff members of the theatre. There were no formal introductions and QandA sessions. She lighted up a cigarette and sat on the platform near the screen and narrated her experiences in other countries where she promoted the film.
Before getting ready to go to the theatre, I was a bit hesitant as I already watched the movie once on the big screen, rented once from blockbuster and then bought the DVD and watched it twice after that. I thought I would probably be bored. Boy, how wrong was I? I did not look at the watch even once during the show (which I normally do for every movie) and there was not a single boring time, not even for the 6th time.
There were not many people who came to the event but every body roared and applauded when Diablo's name appeared on the screen.
Apparently, Diablo is going to be present for the rest of the festival and I hope I will get to talk to her again..
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Cassandra's dream
Like other Woody Allen' s movie in the same genre, Cassandra's dream has an ending that will not be digested by the majority, as it ends on a note which is not only against to the expectations of the audience but also against the code of karma, that most of us believe in. I don't want to give away the ending of the movie but just want to give an idea about the world that this movie lives in.
May be this not as good as the other movies that belong to the same style from Woody allen, but it is definitely not bad as most of the reviews that I read about this one. The other movies that I am talking about are "Crimes and misdemeanors" and "Match point", which are certainly much better than this one. Let me give out an outline on all these movies.
The movie has a central character or characters in this case, who get an entangled in an financial/personal issue and in order to get out of it unscathed, they have take an extreme action, may be taking a human life. The common factor in all the three movies is that the central character is not a monster. He is just another human being who is selfish like most of us are. He commits the crime and later repents like you would expect from any other person who is not completely stone hearted. The same theme in the hands of a lesser director would have been about the way the crime is committed, reducing the movie to a normal hollywood thriller. But Woody allen makes it much more interesting. It is not about the way the crime is committed but how the central character comes to terms with life after he commits that crime.
He is not chased by the law. He family doesn't have a clue that he murdered a person. The only thing he needs to face is himself and his conscience. Will this crime haunt him for the rest of his life or will he continue leading the rest of his life peacefully as if nothing has ever happened?? I don't want to sound like the guy who writes the movie descriptions on the back of the DVD cover, but these are precise questions that these movies made me think about.
The best one of the three in my opinion is "Crimes and misdemeanors" and this movie might be the weakest. Weak, only because of 3-4 scenes that are utterly unconvincing. Apart from that , the movie is quite good.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
My photo blog
In spite of my zeal to blog regularly, I end up averaging less than a post for a month. It's just not because I am lazy (which is definitely one of the reasons) but also because my thoughts vaporize by the time I sit front of the computer to type up something. I found something which does not require much thought but which is equally, if not more, interesting, A photo blog. I discovered this great website, www.eyefetch.com some 2-3 years ago and was dreaming to open my account there. Finally, I did and I started my own photo blog.
If you somehow miraculously land on this page, please visit my photo blog, http://kishankakarla.eyefetch.com and leave a comment.
I find it an interesting and engaging hobby. I hope I don't loose my interest. I need to buy the gear now. A camera and a pair of lens. Researched a bit on google and now I am stuck between Nikon D40 or Nikon D40X or Canon EOS Rebel.
Let's see how it goes...
Monday, June 16, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Shoot 'em Up - The real senseless fun
I never really understood the phrase "senseless fun" and when some critics (especially on rediff.com) say that we should leave our brains at our home while watching so and so movie. I often felt insulted when critics use those phrases and honestly, I don't want to leave my brains at home when watching any movie. Also, most of the movies, in fact all of bollywood movies don't belong in that genre. They are not the "senseless fun" movies as the filmmakers say they are but are simply "senseless".
This is the real "senseless fun" if there is one.
Here, the filmmakers know exactly what they are doing and when things go crazy, I mean really crazy, we know that we need to laugh with the movie as opposed to laugh at it.
There is no point in knowing the story of the movie, as there isn't any and even if there is one, the movie twists and turns it in so many weird ways that you need to pinch yourself to believe what you are seeing. All you need to know is that Clive Owen is the good guy who is trying to rescue a new born baby from the baddie played by Paul giamatti. And yes, there is hot girl played by none other than sexy Monica Bellucci. His weapons - the usual guns and a carrot. Yes, a carrot does a lot of things in this movie and you have to see it to believe it.
I cannot compare this movie to the anything I have seen before. The closest one that comes to my mind is "Transporter 2" which had a few scenes similar to this one. But it was not even half as much fun as this one.
For a brief period of time, I got a little tired of watching movies and postponed my hobby for several weeks now. I am glad that I started my usual schedule with this movie. I liked it so much that I showed it to a couple of friends the very next day and I sat through the entire thing.
One friend who knew what the movie was all about enjoyed it and the other one was confused on whether this was a comedy or a serious action movie.
My rating : 3.75/5
New on DVD-Enchanted
Movies like Enchanted are my current favorites. I am not sure how to explain when I say, "movies like Enchanted". They are the movies where there is parallel universe in addition to the one we know and live in. There is happiness, self-satisfaction and not to mention magic and things which cannot be explained by rational thought in that parallel world. Adults do not believe in that world but kids do. Other great movies that belong in this genres are Harry potter series, Spiderman, Ratatouille , to mention a few.
The very idea of the movie, where a princess from another land is pushed into empty and lonely city of New York, itself is enchanting and in addition to that we have the lovely Amy Adams in the leading role. I loved her in her previous film "Junebug" where she played an innocent country girl. She is again brilliant in her new role and we believe her in every scene that she is as innocent as she appears to be.
The first 15-20 minutes of the movie is shot in animated format where we learn that the princess is looking forward for her dream Prince to come and take her into his arms. She sings about her dream lover and when the dream lover finally arrives to marry her, his step mother comes into the picture. She cannot let her marry his step son as she would loose her crown. So, she throws the Princess down the abyss of a well to the other end of which is a man-hole right in the downtown of current day's New York.
The Princess is alone in the New York city and she is found by an handsome young man who allows her to sleep in his apartment for the night. The young man is realist, rationalist and does not believe in tales where people live happily ever after. As expected, he takes her to be a mentally challenged girl and helps her with money, clothes and some advice on practical life. However, he loves the innocence in the girl and eventually falls in love.
Susan Sarandon plays the evil step mother and she does make an evil entrance as needed by the film. Her sidekick is the British actor who played the role of Peter Pettigrew in Harry potter. He is just the perfect cast for the role.
The movie is rated at 97% on the tomatameter and it certainly does deserve that rating. After watching this movie, I am waiting for the next movie in this genre of parallel universe. Needless to say, this movie ends where all the characters will live happily ever after.
My rating : 5/5
New on DVD - The Mist
Nothing special. I had to skip here and there and fast forward the movie (mostly during the second half) and felt the movie would have been better if it was at least 20 minutes shorter.
This is another typical Stephen King story set yet again in a small town in Maine, where everybody knows everybody.
Apart from being a typical King's story, this is a typical monster movie as well and that is the bad part. The movie is very good till the monster attacks start and once it does it is almost a cliche, almost.
This time the set up is in a local grocery store where all the characters in town are stuck and have to deal with one another to get out of the situation safely. The most interesting character in the movie is played by Marcia gay haden as a devoted Catholic. She feels that it is the Judgement day and manages to convince a majority of the people in her beliefs and if needed she will even not hesitate to kill the non-believers.
The ending of the movie is very sad and reminded me of "Storm of the century", another King's novel about a monster attack in a small town (yes, again in Maine).
I cannot quite recommend this movie but it is fun at times and boring/routine most of the time. There is one scene that I absolutely loved and almost applauded. I will not reveal the suspense but I can give you a hint. It has to got to with the crazy Catholic woman.
My rating : 3/5
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
A decent Scottish thriller
One day on her job, she finds this person on the TV monitor and she immediately identifies him. He is a criminal who was jailed a few years ago and he should not be on the streets. She later finds out that he was released from the jail on the account of good behavior. She is not happy and she starts to monitor his every action on camera. After finding out his daily activities, one day she just shows up at a party in his house and meets him. These scenes were filmed in mysterious and eerie way that it keeps us on the edge and makes us wonder what her intentions are. Her intentions are not revealed till the end when I got to know them, I was slightly disappointed. The movie would have been just great if her motivations weren't explained.
The best thing about the movie is that it never goes for cheap thrills. There is very little background score unlike regular
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Movies based on Stephen King's novels/shortstories
Movies based on Stephen King's novels/shortstories
This is from my recent post in one of the orkut groups discussing about movies.
Stephen king has written a lot of novels, short stories that were adapted to the screen (nearly 50) and he is one of those writers who can elaborate a 5 minute story to 800 page book and still make it riveting. Most of his books are horror based but when he writes about real life drama, he can just get under your skin and make you cry, laugh and sometimes, insanely happy. I haven't seen all of his movies but from what I have seen, I have categorized them down below. This is purely my opinion and hopefully you will like them too.
The Great ones
1) The Shining: A great book and a great movie but completely different from each other. Stephen king was unhappy with the outcome of the movie when it came out in 1980. The director (stanley kubrick) has changed many key points of the novel and movie is very different from what the book intended to be. Shining has one of the greatest opening sequences ever and the haunting music adds an eerie effect when combined with the great camera work in the movie. Jack nicholson plays the role of the caretaker of the Overlook hotel, which is located on a mountain top, isolated, deserted and closed for the entire winter. Gradually, he develops a strange behavior and starts believing that he was there in the hotel before. Has he really??
2) Shawshank redemption: Based on a short story from King. Probably most popular among all the movies based on his books. Most people like the surprise ending of the movie and I love it too, but my favorite moment is when an old man who has lived all his adult life in jail is finally released, goes back to the city where he grew up and finds that life in city has completely changed and he feels like he is in the real jail. Morgan freeman excels and one of the best of King's works.
3) Misery: A chilling horror movie with absolutely no violence and bloodshed. A writer goes to a rural town on a holiday and gets stuck in the snow when his snowmobile dies on him. He gets rescued by a middle aged woman who happens to be a big fan of his books. The story takes a wild turn when he starts to find about her not so friendly side.
4) Carrie: First major success of Stephen king and a very typical story of King which he repeated in many other novels (dead zone, hearts in atlantis, firestarter, thinner,green mile) in which a lonely and a good person has a supernatural gift but he/she is not too happy with it. The movie was brilliantly shot and directed by Brian de palma and John travolta co-stars.
5) Dolores Claiborne: I saw this movie recently and till then I did not even know that there is one such movie. I felt that it was highly underrated and to me it was nearly as good as Shawshank redemption. The movie is about a mother-daughter relationship for over a period of 20 odd years. The daughter who has abandoned her mother visits her after a long long time and they dwell on their relationship over the years and the daughter finally knows about some hidden secrets about her mother which changes her opinions forever.
6) Green mile: Another movie set in the jail life and the rich characterization of various inmates almost makes one feel like we are living in the jail and we know these people. The movie was directed by same person who directed Shawshank redemption.
7) Stand by me: Best movie adaptation of any King's book, period. The movie made me sad and happy at the same time. Sad for realizing the fact that our childhood days have passed and gone and we can never have them back and happy for re-living and making me remember about those days. The movie is based on another typical theme of King's stories where a group of childhood friends meet during their adult life and remember about the good old days and one incident in specific which they will never forget.
Good ones
1) Rose Red : Rose red is a lengthy (4 1/2 hrs) horror movie, which was made as mini-series for TV, is about a group of scholars who plan to visit an old haunted mansion. The novel was loosely inspired by the real mansion called "Winchester mystery house" in Sanfrancisco, California. Thought the movie is very long and story line is wafer thin, it is very riveting and keeps the audience on the edge of the seat. The group on their visit to the mansion encounter the ghosts of the family who used to live in the mansion. The story of the family and the way they died is revealed in bits and pieces in flashbacks.
2) Storm of the century: Another movie made for TV (3-4 hours) is based in a small town in Maine, where many other novels of King are setup. When a blizzard hits the small town, the citizens of the town are visited by a stranger who knows the secrets of everybody in the town. After he kills an old man, he is jailed. Even after being in jail, he continues to kill people or force people to suicide by using his supernatural powers. The stranger keeps repeating "Give me what I need and I'll go away" and only at the end it is revealed what he needs. The ending of the movie might not be liked by many people for its abruptness and vagueness.
3) 1408: This movie is based on a short story that King used in his anthology "Everything's eventual". The movie stars Samuel L Jackson as a hotel manager and John Cusack as a writer who mainly focusses on haunted places. He comes to know about the room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel, Newyork where apparently many people lost their lives. Initially, the manager of the hotel tries his best to convince him to not to stay in the room. But, the writer refuses and enters the room. He later comes to face with the evils in the room and he has no way out.
4) Cat's eye: This movie along with Twilight zone is one of the main inspirations for Ramgopalvarma's Darna mana hai/Darna zaroori hai series. Apparently (courtesy:www.passionforcinema.com), RGV narrated one of the stories from this movie to Anurag kashyap. Anurag later, after many many years realized that it was actually a story from Stephen king. However, he modified the story that he heard from RGV and made it into "No Smoking".
Anyway, Coming to this movie, it is an anthology of three horror stories just like Darna mana hai. The first story is the best of the lot. None of them are scary but each of them is very weird and often very funny.
5) Creepshow: Another anthology like Cat's eye but a big hit during the time of its release. The movie has 5 episodes and Stephen king himself played the lead role in one of those stories. Each story in the movie like Cat's eye border on comedy and eeriness. The movie is no masterpiece but has a certain weirdly funny quality that I absolutely loved it.
6) The Dead zone: Christopher Walken plays the role of a normal young man in love with a girl and one day gets hit by a car. After that he spends years in coma and when he returns back, he is empowered by a supernatural power using which he can predict future. Like other King's stories, he is not happy with the powers he has but finds himself in situations where he has to put it to use to rescue others and sometimes himself. The movie was directed by David Cronenberg (History of violence) and it is an engaging movie.
7) Pet Cemetery: Stephen king says it his favorite among his works but the movie is not that great. It is nonetheless very interesting at times. The story is about a small family with a husband, wife and a 2 year old kid. When the kid dies in a brutal car accident, the father is crestfallen and decides to bury his son in the near pet cemetery, where it is believed that the dead things come alive. The kid comes alive as expected but he is not his son anymore but is devil/ghost/monster or whatever.
8) Hearts in Atlantis: A very good book but a mediocre movie. Anthony hopkins plays the leading role of an old man who comes to a small village from nowhere. He befriends a teenage boy and passes some of this supernatural powers to him. The kid (and us) never find out where exactly he came from but what we know is that he is on the run and the people who are looking for him are not very nice.
Not so good ones
1) Thinner: A successful lawyer on fine day kills a gypsy by running his car over him. The leader of the gypsies casts a spell on the lawyer that he would become thinner everyday for the rest of his life. The fat lawyer is intially glad to loose some pounds but slowly he realizes that something is not right.
2) Maximum overdrive: The only movie directed by Stephen king. He has once admitted that it is his worst work ever and he did not what he was doing while shooting the film.
3) Salem's lot: A successful tv mini series but an awful movie.
4) Needful things: Max Van sydow (Exorcist) is the stranger from nowhere in a lonely town who knows the darkest secrets of everybody in the town. He instigates one against other and creates a hell in the town.
5) Firestarter : A story somewhat similar to Carrie. Drew barrymore plays the role of little girl, where she and her father have the supernatural power of producing fires at their will. They are pursued by people from the "Shop" for the father-daughter are on the run.
Stephen king has written a lot of novels, short stories that were adapted to the screen (nearly 50) and he is one of those writers who can elaborate a 5 minute story to 800 page book and still make it riveting. Most of his books are horror based but when he writes about real life drama, he can just get under your skin and make you cry, laugh and sometimes, insanely happy. I haven't seen all of his movies but from what I have seen, I have categorized them down below. This is purely my opinion and hopefully you will like them too.
The Great ones
1) The Shining: A great book and a great movie but completely different from each other. Stephen king was unhappy with the outcome of the movie when it came out in 1980. The director (stanley kubrick) has changed many key points of the novel and movie is very different from what the book intended to be. Shining has one of the greatest opening sequences ever and the haunting music adds an eerie effect when combined with the great camera work in the movie. Jack nicholson plays the role of the caretaker of the Overlook hotel, which is located on a mountain top, isolated, deserted and closed for the entire winter. Gradually, he develops a strange behavior and starts believing that he was there in the hotel before. Has he really??
2) Shawshank redemption: Based on a short story from King. Probably most popular among all the movies based on his books. Most people like the surprise ending of the movie and I love it too, but my favorite moment is when an old man who has lived all his adult life in jail is finally released, goes back to the city where he grew up and finds that life in city has completely changed and he feels like he is in the real jail. Morgan freeman excels and one of the best of King's works.
3) Misery: A chilling horror movie with absolutely no violence and bloodshed. A writer goes to a rural town on a holiday and gets stuck in the snow when his snowmobile dies on him. He gets rescued by a middle aged woman who happens to be a big fan of his books. The story takes a wild turn when he starts to find about her not so friendly side.
4) Carrie: First major success of Stephen king and a very typical story of King which he repeated in many other novels (dead zone, hearts in atlantis, firestarter, thinner,green mile) in which a lonely and a good person has a supernatural gift but he/she is not too happy with it. The movie was brilliantly shot and directed by Brian de palma and John travolta co-stars.
5) Dolores Claiborne: I saw this movie recently and till then I did not even know that there is one such movie. I felt that it was highly underrated and to me it was nearly as good as Shawshank redemption. The movie is about a mother-daughter relationship for over a period of 20 odd years. The daughter who has abandoned her mother visits her after a long long time and they dwell on their relationship over the years and the daughter finally knows about some hidden secrets about her mother which changes her opinions forever.
6) Green mile: Another movie set in the jail life and the rich characterization of various inmates almost makes one feel like we are living in the jail and we know these people. The movie was directed by same person who directed Shawshank redemption.
7) Stand by me: Best movie adaptation of any King's book, period. The movie made me sad and happy at the same time. Sad for realizing the fact that our childhood days have passed and gone and we can never have them back and happy for re-living and making me remember about those days. The movie is based on another typical theme of King's stories where a group of childhood friends meet during their adult life and remember about the good old days and one incident in specific which they will never forget.
Good ones
1) Rose Red : Rose red is a lengthy (4 1/2 hrs) horror movie, which was made as mini-series for TV, is about a group of scholars who plan to visit an old haunted mansion. The novel was loosely inspired by the real mansion called "Winchester mystery house" in Sanfrancisco, California. Thought the movie is very long and story line is wafer thin, it is very riveting and keeps the audience on the edge of the seat. The group on their visit to the mansion encounter the ghosts of the family who used to live in the mansion. The story of the family and the way they died is revealed in bits and pieces in flashbacks.
2) Storm of the century: Another movie made for TV (3-4 hours) is based in a small town in Maine, where many other novels of King are setup. When a blizzard hits the small town, the citizens of the town are visited by a stranger who knows the secrets of everybody in the town. After he kills an old man, he is jailed. Even after being in jail, he continues to kill people or force people to suicide by using his supernatural powers. The stranger keeps repeating "Give me what I need and I'll go away" and only at the end it is revealed what he needs. The ending of the movie might not be liked by many people for its abruptness and vagueness.
3) 1408: This movie is based on a short story that King used in his anthology "Everything's eventual". The movie stars Samuel L Jackson as a hotel manager and John Cusack as a writer who mainly focusses on haunted places. He comes to know about the room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel, Newyork where apparently many people lost their lives. Initially, the manager of the hotel tries his best to convince him to not to stay in the room. But, the writer refuses and enters the room. He later comes to face with the evils in the room and he has no way out.
4) Cat's eye: This movie along with Twilight zone is one of the main inspirations for Ramgopalvarma's Darna mana hai/Darna zaroori hai series. Apparently (courtesy:www.passionforcinema.com), RGV narrated one of the stories from this movie to Anurag kashyap. Anurag later, after many many years realized that it was actually a story from Stephen king. However, he modified the story that he heard from RGV and made it into "No Smoking".
Anyway, Coming to this movie, it is an anthology of three horror stories just like Darna mana hai. The first story is the best of the lot. None of them are scary but each of them is very weird and often very funny.
5) Creepshow: Another anthology like Cat's eye but a big hit during the time of its release. The movie has 5 episodes and Stephen king himself played the lead role in one of those stories. Each story in the movie like Cat's eye border on comedy and eeriness. The movie is no masterpiece but has a certain weirdly funny quality that I absolutely loved it.
6) The Dead zone: Christopher Walken plays the role of a normal young man in love with a girl and one day gets hit by a car. After that he spends years in coma and when he returns back, he is empowered by a supernatural power using which he can predict future. Like other King's stories, he is not happy with the powers he has but finds himself in situations where he has to put it to use to rescue others and sometimes himself. The movie was directed by David Cronenberg (History of violence) and it is an engaging movie.
7) Pet Cemetery: Stephen king says it his favorite among his works but the movie is not that great. It is nonetheless very interesting at times. The story is about a small family with a husband, wife and a 2 year old kid. When the kid dies in a brutal car accident, the father is crestfallen and decides to bury his son in the near pet cemetery, where it is believed that the dead things come alive. The kid comes alive as expected but he is not his son anymore but is devil/ghost/monster or whatever.
8) Hearts in Atlantis: A very good book but a mediocre movie. Anthony hopkins plays the leading role of an old man who comes to a small village from nowhere. He befriends a teenage boy and passes some of this supernatural powers to him. The kid (and us) never find out where exactly he came from but what we know is that he is on the run and the people who are looking for him are not very nice.
Not so good ones
1) Thinner: A successful lawyer on fine day kills a gypsy by running his car over him. The leader of the gypsies casts a spell on the lawyer that he would become thinner everyday for the rest of his life. The fat lawyer is intially glad to loose some pounds but slowly he realizes that something is not right.
2) Maximum overdrive: The only movie directed by Stephen king. He has once admitted that it is his worst work ever and he did not what he was doing while shooting the film.
3) Salem's lot: A successful tv mini series but an awful movie.
4) Needful things: Max Van sydow (Exorcist) is the stranger from nowhere in a lonely town who knows the darkest secrets of everybody in the town. He instigates one against other and creates a hell in the town.
5) Firestarter : A story somewhat similar to Carrie. Drew barrymore plays the role of little girl, where she and her father have the supernatural power of producing fires at their will. They are pursued by people from the "Shop" for the father-daughter are on the run.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Recently Watched Movies-2
Thanks to Blockbuster's in-store rental plan, I can now go to store and find the new releases instantly. Here are some of the movies that I have seen since last week:
Lust,caution (2007): The movie is not really that good as Ang lee's previous one's but is definetly worth watching. The movie is about a group of Chinese students who want to fight against the Japanese imperialists and their mission is to kill the Mr. Yee, a japanese collaborator. The plan is trap Mr. Yee into an affair and kill him when they get the first chance. The beautiful Mrs. Wong, agrees to be the bait and her job is seduce Mr. Yee. Their mission is abrutply stopped when Yee moves to Shanghai, all of a sudden. After 3 years, the team re-groups and decides to launch the mission again. The ending of the movie might disaappoint many people.
The householder (1963): I have seen only one movie from James Ivory-Ismail Merchant till now and this is my second one. This movie is so good that I want to see all the rest from their combination. This is the directorial debut for James ivory and the movie stars Shashi kapoor and leela naidu. A simple movie about a normal school teacher and his early years of married life and how he copes up with his meager income, his new wife, his mother and other family issues. The movie's narration style is very similar to Satyajit ray's pather panchali, in dealing with financial issues that a poor/middle class family has to face everyday. The movie was made in both hindi and english, but unfortunately netflix is carrying only the english version.
Rescue dawn(2007) : Christian bale gives an amazing performance in this movie. The movie is based on the real life character (Dieter Dengler) who was captured by Vietnam militia, just after 40 minutes into his first mission in 1965. Once he is held captive, he is taken into POW camp where he meets few other Americans, who were held captive for over an year. Dieter convinces others to assist him in his plan to escape from the camp. What makes the movie so different is the way Christian bale plays this character. The movie was entirely shot on location in Thailand's interior and dense woods. The locations are breath taking and the director (wernor herzog) avoids all those scenes, which would have made this a regular war thriller.A must watch.
3:10 to yuma (2007): Remake and probably a better version of an old western. Russell crowe is Ben wade, an infamous outlaw who is finally caught in a small town. The hard part is moving him to yuma, where he would be imprisoned. Dan (Christian bale), a small time farmer who is in dire need of some money agrees to escort him for $200. Along the ride, Dan and Ben know more about and command respect for each other. Ben is not a complete bad guy and is capable of expressing emotions when needed and Dan sticks to his ethics and morals and is not afraid to sacrifice his life, if that situation arises. I have just seen another Christian bale movie (Resuce dawn) and he is so damn different in both of them.
Death at a funeral (2007): This british comedy is hilarious for the first 30-45 mins but later as it steps into slapstick and some explicitly vulgar scenes, it starts to drag. However, the first half makes up for the dragging final act . Like typical british comedies, the movies find laughter in situations where you least expect it. If you are of sensitive kind, you may want to close your eyes for a minute or two during some scenes in the second half. Barring those few scenes, the movie is a laugh riot.
During the opening scene of the movie, a coffin is brought into the home of the Daniel's. Daniel opens the coffin to see his father for one final time. He solemnly looks at the body for a minute and asks, "Who's this?". And then follows a series of things where everything goes wrong.
Gone baby gone (2007): A decent thriller with a lot of twists and turns and a good debut for the director turned actor, ben affleck. The movie starts slow but you will be hooked after the first 20 minutes.
Away from her (2007) : This is one of the saddest movies that I have seen in the recent times. Alzheimer's can be the most painful disorder, not for the patient but for their loved ones. The story is about an old couple who are married for nearly 44 years. When he comes to know that his wife has alzheimer's, he is devastated. He lets her join in an institution as per her will, but he is not happy to see her go. Her conditions worsens to the stage that she almosts forgets who her husband is. Is she putting put an act or does she really have alzheimer's is the question that the movie does not answer.
We Own the night (2007) : An okay drug related drama starring Joaquin Phoenix, Eva Mendes and Mark Wahlberg. One brother is a cop and the other is a drug dealer. Father, played by Robert duvall, is also a cop and loves the cop son but not the other. Joaquin (drug dealer) takes the side of the family when his brother gets shot by his own people. Though the movie is stylishly shot there are some obligatory sequences where the younger brother (drug dealer) becomes a cop in no time after going through few tests and brings down the entire drug dealing operation and makes his family proud. There are same old scenes of breaking up/getting back with girl friend and winning the love of the father and the fairy tale ending of winning the award for being the best police officer of the year, etc. Some reviews compared it to the Departed, but to me it is very dull and routine and no where near the energetic martin scorcese's classic.
Lust,caution (2007): The movie is not really that good as Ang lee's previous one's but is definetly worth watching. The movie is about a group of Chinese students who want to fight against the Japanese imperialists and their mission is to kill the Mr. Yee, a japanese collaborator. The plan is trap Mr. Yee into an affair and kill him when they get the first chance. The beautiful Mrs. Wong, agrees to be the bait and her job is seduce Mr. Yee. Their mission is abrutply stopped when Yee moves to Shanghai, all of a sudden. After 3 years, the team re-groups and decides to launch the mission again. The ending of the movie might disaappoint many people.
The householder (1963): I have seen only one movie from James Ivory-Ismail Merchant till now and this is my second one. This movie is so good that I want to see all the rest from their combination. This is the directorial debut for James ivory and the movie stars Shashi kapoor and leela naidu. A simple movie about a normal school teacher and his early years of married life and how he copes up with his meager income, his new wife, his mother and other family issues. The movie's narration style is very similar to Satyajit ray's pather panchali, in dealing with financial issues that a poor/middle class family has to face everyday. The movie was made in both hindi and english, but unfortunately netflix is carrying only the english version.
Rescue dawn(2007) : Christian bale gives an amazing performance in this movie. The movie is based on the real life character (Dieter Dengler) who was captured by Vietnam militia, just after 40 minutes into his first mission in 1965. Once he is held captive, he is taken into POW camp where he meets few other Americans, who were held captive for over an year. Dieter convinces others to assist him in his plan to escape from the camp. What makes the movie so different is the way Christian bale plays this character. The movie was entirely shot on location in Thailand's interior and dense woods. The locations are breath taking and the director (wernor herzog) avoids all those scenes, which would have made this a regular war thriller.A must watch.
3:10 to yuma (2007): Remake and probably a better version of an old western. Russell crowe is Ben wade, an infamous outlaw who is finally caught in a small town. The hard part is moving him to yuma, where he would be imprisoned. Dan (Christian bale), a small time farmer who is in dire need of some money agrees to escort him for $200. Along the ride, Dan and Ben know more about and command respect for each other. Ben is not a complete bad guy and is capable of expressing emotions when needed and Dan sticks to his ethics and morals and is not afraid to sacrifice his life, if that situation arises. I have just seen another Christian bale movie (Resuce dawn) and he is so damn different in both of them.
Death at a funeral (2007): This british comedy is hilarious for the first 30-45 mins but later as it steps into slapstick and some explicitly vulgar scenes, it starts to drag. However, the first half makes up for the dragging final act . Like typical british comedies, the movies find laughter in situations where you least expect it. If you are of sensitive kind, you may want to close your eyes for a minute or two during some scenes in the second half. Barring those few scenes, the movie is a laugh riot.
During the opening scene of the movie, a coffin is brought into the home of the Daniel's. Daniel opens the coffin to see his father for one final time. He solemnly looks at the body for a minute and asks, "Who's this?". And then follows a series of things where everything goes wrong.
Gone baby gone (2007): A decent thriller with a lot of twists and turns and a good debut for the director turned actor, ben affleck. The movie starts slow but you will be hooked after the first 20 minutes.
Away from her (2007) : This is one of the saddest movies that I have seen in the recent times. Alzheimer's can be the most painful disorder, not for the patient but for their loved ones. The story is about an old couple who are married for nearly 44 years. When he comes to know that his wife has alzheimer's, he is devastated. He lets her join in an institution as per her will, but he is not happy to see her go. Her conditions worsens to the stage that she almosts forgets who her husband is. Is she putting put an act or does she really have alzheimer's is the question that the movie does not answer.
We Own the night (2007) : An okay drug related drama starring Joaquin Phoenix, Eva Mendes and Mark Wahlberg. One brother is a cop and the other is a drug dealer. Father, played by Robert duvall, is also a cop and loves the cop son but not the other. Joaquin (drug dealer) takes the side of the family when his brother gets shot by his own people. Though the movie is stylishly shot there are some obligatory sequences where the younger brother (drug dealer) becomes a cop in no time after going through few tests and brings down the entire drug dealing operation and makes his family proud. There are same old scenes of breaking up/getting back with girl friend and winning the love of the father and the fairy tale ending of winning the award for being the best police officer of the year, etc. Some reviews compared it to the Departed, but to me it is very dull and routine and no where near the energetic martin scorcese's classic.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Recently Watched movies
Hearts in atlantis (2001) : Adaptation of stephen king's novel and not upto the mark. I read the book and was very excited to watch the movie and it was a let down. The movie was okay and it is a typical King novel where a stranger comes to the town from nowhere and he is more than what meets the eye. The movie is about this teenage boy who befriends the old stranger (played by anthony hopkins) and learns the secrets about the people from an other world, who he calls him, "low men in yellow coats". The book instills a feeling of nostalgia and is beautiful at times when it deals with childhood fantasies and first romances. Unfortunately, the movie did not evoke the same feeling. A good movie nonetheless.
9 1/2 weeks: Adrian lyne's (who I always thought was french, but recently found that he is british) erotic drama is about a middle aged & beautiful woman, who is recently divorced, and a handsome but weird guy and their adventurous relationship. The movie has great cinematography and brilliant background score like other Lyne's movies (Fatal attraction, unfaithful) but a very different plot. One would always imagine during the first half hour that the guy would turn out to be some sort of psycho and the movie will end with a lot of violence. Nothing of that sort happens. The entire movie is shot in some kind of a moody environment and you have to watch this movie with lights off and sound on.
Darna zaroori hai (2006): I did not watch this movie for so long and looking back , I am surprised at many of the poor reviews this movie received. The stories this time were indeed scary and interesting unlike darna mana hai. I thought the final story of the six which was directed by Chakravarthy was the best of the lot. I thought the episode on apples and Aftab's episode on the stop game brought down darna mana hai. In darna zaroori hai, there are no bad episodes and two in particular are really out of the box.
Darling (2007): Darling is good for the first few minutes, drags a bit in the middle and comes together as an interesting movie, thanks to a very interesting and well-performed climax. Reviews have praised fardeen but to me esha deol was better. Songs were unneccessary in the movie and a it would have been better if the movie was a little shorter.As RGV said in his interview, the movie starts as a thriller, becomes a horror and later becomes a comedy and ends up as an emotional drama. Coming to the story, Fardeen, a happily married businessman has an affair with his secretary played by esha deol. When esha pesters him to leave his wife and marry her, a confrantation ensues resulting in her death. Fardeen then is followed by Esha's ghost. In a typical RGV's style similar to Money, my wife's murder, the guilty is frequently visited by the law, pushing him further into confusion and despair. There is a brief scene with Kota sreenivasa rao playing the role of a psychoanalyst which could have been handled better. Excluding a few boring scenes, darling is a very interesting movie.
The brave one (2007): Not good and not bad. Boring at times. Not too long but felt long. I did not like it.
Deathproof (2007): Nobody can write dialogue like Quentin. Quentin can make a 2 hr movie about two guys sitting in a restaurant and discussing about a sandwitch and still make it interesting. The movie is one of two parts in Grindhouse package and is the better one of the two. It is about a Stuntman who likes to kill young girls with his deathproof car. In the movie's first segment, he stalks a radio jockey and her friends in a bar and runs them over his car and kills everyone of them. In the movie's second segment we witness what is possibly the greatest car chase in movies, ever. Quentin hates the idea of using CGI and this entire car chase was filmed on location using real stuntmen and stuntwomen. Zoebell (who body doubled for fight scenes in Kill bill for Uma) excels in her role as a real life stuntwoman.
Once(2007): This year's oscar winner for the best song is a love story like no other. The movie was filmed using a handheld camera by independent filmmakers from Ireland. It is about a roadside singer and part time hoover mechanic, who one day encounters a beautiful girl who pays him 10 cents for his song. The girl is a song writer and he is a composer and they collaborate with other roadside musicians to get his music recorded. It sounds like a typical sweet hollywood romantic comedy but it isn't.
Single white female: Bridget fonda is the single white female who has just broken up with her boyfriend and is looking for a new female room mate. After interviewing a few girls, she lands on jennifer jason leigh (in her most famous role). Gradually, as she gets to know her, she gets scared as this new girl is different in many ways. An entertaining and chilling movie. Jennifer jason leigh is scary as hell and she carries the show.
The Devil's backbone: The earlier work of the director of Pan's labryinth and the producer of "The orphanage", is a movie about childhood fears about ghosts just like his other two movies. The setup is an orphanage and time is 1930's when the spanish war was in progress. The kids in the orphanage hear some strange sounds during the nights and they assume that it is the ghost of "Santi" who was recently killed. Only one kid knows about the secret of his death. Like Pan's labryinth and The orphanage, the movie takes its time and uses the sudden scary shocks for only the required scenes and the result is an engaging horror drama.
La femme Nikita: (1990): A very popular french thriller of 90's which was later re-made in hollywood (point of no return) and then re-made into a tv series. The movie is about a deranged teenage female assasin who is sent to prison for life. She is later trained by the secret service to carry out their classified operations. The woman who never had any emotions and feelings for life before, finally falls in love with a store clerk during one of her operations. She finally wants to live and leave all her past behind. The overall plot of the movie reminded me of RGV's Satya, though the setup is completely different.
Fool's gold: (2008): A very typical hollywood's idea of a romantic adventure. The movie is too predictable but the leading stars, Kate hudson and Matthew McConaughey save the movie from being boring. The movie received very poor reviews (nearly 7% on tomatameter) but I somewhat liked it, probably because of the lovely Kute hudson. Kate & McConaughey make a nice couple and it was very funny and romantic at moments.
Bug : (2007) Directed by William Friedkin (The exorcist), "The Bug" is about a lonely middle aged woman (ashely judd) and her encounter with another lonely demented guy. She is recently divorced and he is from nowhere with nobody to care for him. We know nothing about this guy other than his claim that he is pursued by some people, who are injecting bugs into his body as part of their scientific experiments. The movie ends in madness and Ashley judd's performance towards the end is brilliant. The movie did not receive great reviews and got very little recognition. It was loved by a few and hated by others, and I think both of their opinions/judgments are justified.
9 1/2 weeks: Adrian lyne's (who I always thought was french, but recently found that he is british) erotic drama is about a middle aged & beautiful woman, who is recently divorced, and a handsome but weird guy and their adventurous relationship. The movie has great cinematography and brilliant background score like other Lyne's movies (Fatal attraction, unfaithful) but a very different plot. One would always imagine during the first half hour that the guy would turn out to be some sort of psycho and the movie will end with a lot of violence. Nothing of that sort happens. The entire movie is shot in some kind of a moody environment and you have to watch this movie with lights off and sound on.
Darna zaroori hai (2006): I did not watch this movie for so long and looking back , I am surprised at many of the poor reviews this movie received. The stories this time were indeed scary and interesting unlike darna mana hai. I thought the final story of the six which was directed by Chakravarthy was the best of the lot. I thought the episode on apples and Aftab's episode on the stop game brought down darna mana hai. In darna zaroori hai, there are no bad episodes and two in particular are really out of the box.
Darling (2007): Darling is good for the first few minutes, drags a bit in the middle and comes together as an interesting movie, thanks to a very interesting and well-performed climax. Reviews have praised fardeen but to me esha deol was better. Songs were unneccessary in the movie and a it would have been better if the movie was a little shorter.As RGV said in his interview, the movie starts as a thriller, becomes a horror and later becomes a comedy and ends up as an emotional drama. Coming to the story, Fardeen, a happily married businessman has an affair with his secretary played by esha deol. When esha pesters him to leave his wife and marry her, a confrantation ensues resulting in her death. Fardeen then is followed by Esha's ghost. In a typical RGV's style similar to Money, my wife's murder, the guilty is frequently visited by the law, pushing him further into confusion and despair. There is a brief scene with Kota sreenivasa rao playing the role of a psychoanalyst which could have been handled better. Excluding a few boring scenes, darling is a very interesting movie.
The brave one (2007): Not good and not bad. Boring at times. Not too long but felt long. I did not like it.
Deathproof (2007): Nobody can write dialogue like Quentin. Quentin can make a 2 hr movie about two guys sitting in a restaurant and discussing about a sandwitch and still make it interesting. The movie is one of two parts in Grindhouse package and is the better one of the two. It is about a Stuntman who likes to kill young girls with his deathproof car. In the movie's first segment, he stalks a radio jockey and her friends in a bar and runs them over his car and kills everyone of them. In the movie's second segment we witness what is possibly the greatest car chase in movies, ever. Quentin hates the idea of using CGI and this entire car chase was filmed on location using real stuntmen and stuntwomen. Zoebell (who body doubled for fight scenes in Kill bill for Uma) excels in her role as a real life stuntwoman.
Once(2007): This year's oscar winner for the best song is a love story like no other. The movie was filmed using a handheld camera by independent filmmakers from Ireland. It is about a roadside singer and part time hoover mechanic, who one day encounters a beautiful girl who pays him 10 cents for his song. The girl is a song writer and he is a composer and they collaborate with other roadside musicians to get his music recorded. It sounds like a typical sweet hollywood romantic comedy but it isn't.
Single white female: Bridget fonda is the single white female who has just broken up with her boyfriend and is looking for a new female room mate. After interviewing a few girls, she lands on jennifer jason leigh (in her most famous role). Gradually, as she gets to know her, she gets scared as this new girl is different in many ways. An entertaining and chilling movie. Jennifer jason leigh is scary as hell and she carries the show.
The Devil's backbone: The earlier work of the director of Pan's labryinth and the producer of "The orphanage", is a movie about childhood fears about ghosts just like his other two movies. The setup is an orphanage and time is 1930's when the spanish war was in progress. The kids in the orphanage hear some strange sounds during the nights and they assume that it is the ghost of "Santi" who was recently killed. Only one kid knows about the secret of his death. Like Pan's labryinth and The orphanage, the movie takes its time and uses the sudden scary shocks for only the required scenes and the result is an engaging horror drama.
La femme Nikita: (1990): A very popular french thriller of 90's which was later re-made in hollywood (point of no return) and then re-made into a tv series. The movie is about a deranged teenage female assasin who is sent to prison for life. She is later trained by the secret service to carry out their classified operations. The woman who never had any emotions and feelings for life before, finally falls in love with a store clerk during one of her operations. She finally wants to live and leave all her past behind. The overall plot of the movie reminded me of RGV's Satya, though the setup is completely different.
Fool's gold: (2008): A very typical hollywood's idea of a romantic adventure. The movie is too predictable but the leading stars, Kate hudson and Matthew McConaughey save the movie from being boring. The movie received very poor reviews (nearly 7% on tomatameter) but I somewhat liked it, probably because of the lovely Kute hudson. Kate & McConaughey make a nice couple and it was very funny and romantic at moments.
Bug : (2007) Directed by William Friedkin (The exorcist), "The Bug" is about a lonely middle aged woman (ashely judd) and her encounter with another lonely demented guy. She is recently divorced and he is from nowhere with nobody to care for him. We know nothing about this guy other than his claim that he is pursued by some people, who are injecting bugs into his body as part of their scientific experiments. The movie ends in madness and Ashley judd's performance towards the end is brilliant. The movie did not receive great reviews and got very little recognition. It was loved by a few and hated by others, and I think both of their opinions/judgments are justified.
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