Monday, June 26, 2006

Krrish

Ok, the visual effects weren't too bad. If you avoided looking for the original movies they were internalized from, that is. And Hrithik isn't half bad, either.

That said...


Rekha plays a granny who nourishes kid Krishna by feeding him BOURNVITA every day. She dutifuly cleans his clothes with TIDE, thus making sure he can wear dresses from SIYARAM. She is flabbergasted to know the boy is a genius. She learns this by eavesdropping on an IQ test conducted by five learned people at Krishna's school.

Learned Person: "What is Amount?"
Krishna, the boy genius: "Principal plus Interest is Amount"

Devastated by this astonishing display of brilliance, one strand of hair on Rekha's head turns gray.

Cut to scene of a horse called Toofan, running like the wind. Cut to the shoes on Krishna's feet. Cut to rippling muscles, to long wavy hair, to Hrithik horsing around. Ta-da! The boy genius has turned into a combination of Johnny Weismuller and Chow Yun Fat.

A Tarzan-meets-Jane interlude later, our hero rushes off to Singapore to sing a few songs and model for the Singapore Tourism industry and STAR TV. A few kids are caught in a circus fire, our intrepid hero rushes to the rescue wearing a cast-off trenchcoat from Neo and a half bitten mask from Catwoman. Ta-da! He is now Krrish, the darrling of the masses.

Unbeknownst to Krrish, enter a scheming villain called Dr Arya (Naseeruddin Shah), who is out to create a super-computer that combines the powers of astronomy, astrology and Google Earth to predict the future. You predict the future by placing your hand on a glass table and moving a few fancy graphical images around. You know it's your future because you can see yourself in a big screen in front of you. You can also see your wife, your mother, your newly born son and if needed, you can see your killer as well. Naseer fails to realize that the future is irreversible and tries to kill Krrish, thus indicating that despite being a super genius, he's never watched a single Hindi movie in his life.

Grranny meets her son, her son meets his son, his son marries the love of his life and Preity Zinta has the last laugh.

Highly rrecommended, especially if you wanted to catch the Arrgentina - Mexico match and was wondering how to stay up late.

Monday, June 19, 2006

AFI's 100 Most Inspirational Movies of All Time


1-IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
2-TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
3-SCHINDLER'S LIST
4-ROCKY

5-MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON
6-E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL
7-THE GRAPES OF WRATH
8-BREAKING AWAY

9-MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET
10-SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
11-THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES
12-APOLLO 13
13-HOOSIERS
14-THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
15-THE MIRACLE WORKER
16-NORMA RAE
17-ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
18-THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK
19-THE RIGHT STUFF
20-PHILADELPHIA
21-IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT

22-THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES
23-THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
24-NATIONAL VELVET
25-SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS
26-THE WIZARD OF OZ
27-HIGH NOON
28-FIELD OF DREAMS
29-GANDHI

30-LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
31-GLORY
32-CASABLANCA
33-CITY LIGHTS
34-ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN
35-GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER
36-ON THE WATERFRONT
37-FORREST GUMP
38-PINOCCHIO
39-STAR WARS

40-MRS. MINIVER
41-THE SOUND OF MUSIC
42-12 ANGRY MEN
43-GONE WITH THE WIND
44-SPARTACUS

45-ON GOLDEN POND
46-LILIES OF THE FIELD
47-2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
48-THE AFRICAN QUEEN

49-MEET JOHN DOE
50-SEABISCUIT
51-THE COLOR PURPLE
52-DEAD POET'S SOCIETY
53-SHANE
54-RUDY
55-THE DEFIANT ONES
56-BEN-HUR
57-SERGEANT YORK
58-CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
59-DANCES WITH WOLVES
60-THE KILLING FIELDS

61-SOUNDER
62-BRAVEHEART
63-RAIN MAN

64-THE BLACK STALLION
65-A RAISIN IN THE SUN
66 -SILKWOOD
67-THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
68-AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN
69-THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS
70-COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER
71-COOL HAND LUKE
72-DARK VICTORY
73-ERIN BROCKOVICH
74-GUNGA DIN
75-THE VERDICT
76-BIRDMAN OF ALCATRAZ
77-DRIVING MISS DAISY
78-THELMA & LOUISE
79-THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
80-BABE

81-BOYS TOWN
82-FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
83-MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN
84-SERPICO
85-WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT
86-STAND AND DELIVER
87-WORKING GIRL
88-YANKEE DOODLE DANDY
89-HAROLD AND MAUDE
90-HOTEL RWANDA
91-THE PAPER CHASE
92-FAME
93-A BEAUTIFUL MIND
94-CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS
95-PLACES IN THE HEART
96-SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER
97-MADAME CURIE
98-THE KARATE KID
99-RAY
100-CHARIOTS OF FIRE

Nice list, but I would have rated Shawshank much higher. Lots of stuff to watch..

Sunday, June 4, 2006

The voyage home

Over the atlantic again. Can't wait to get to Bangalore. Have a 2 day stopover at Chennai though - work! Damn.

Thursday, June 1, 2006

Narcissist Nair




This was taken at the fort at St Augustine, Florida. Apparently the oldest city town in the US.



At Daytona Beach, Florida



At the pier at Flagler County, Florida.



The pier again. Don't miss the rainbow.