Five of the best from my 2007

Movies: Taare Zameen Par, Ratatouille, The Rules of the Game, Knocked Up, Grindhouse

Books: We Need to Talk About Kevin, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Mahabharatha: A Modern Rendering, From Hell

Happy New Year, everyone.

Taare Zameen Par

To quote Anton Ego, the food critic from Ratatouille:

In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgement. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so....The world is often unkind to new talents — new creations. The new needs friends. Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source...

Last night I too experienced something new and extraordinary, something magical, something heartfelt, moving and brilliant. A movie called Taare Zameen Par, from a new director named Aamir Khan. I confess I didn't have very high expectations from the film and was prepared for a three handkerchief tear-jerker. Tear-jerker it definitely is, but in the most natural way. The acting is excellent, the music spot on, the screenplay taut and the direction top-notch.

My daughter probably identified herself with the child protagonist and was upset initially, she wanted to leave during the first half. Later on she watched, enthralled, while her parents did their darndest not to cry. As we sat through the end credits, she kept saying she wanted to watch it again. I looked around and saw the theater half empty, the ushers trying to move everyone out before the next show. All the people who stayed back though, had kids on their arms and a look of wonder in their eyes.

Thank you, Aamir.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

From Roger Ebert's review:

This is a Mouth Agape Movie, during which your mouth hangs open in astonishment at one preposterous event after another. This movie's plot doesn't play tennis without a net, but also without a ball and a racket. It spins in its own blowback. And, no, I don't know what that means, but this is the kind of movie that makes you think of writing it.

I don't always agree with Ebert's likes and dislikes, but there are very few reviewers around who can write like him. Trust me, I've checked.

2007 & '08

Slant magazine has a pretty good list of their top 10 movies of 2007 here. Don't miss the 'Superlatives' section towards the end.

I haven't watched a single film from those lists yet - my must-watch list grows longer and longer, sad to say.

As for my most anticipated movie of 2008....

The Last Leaf

The last leaf will always be there, buddy.

Movie Quiz

I'm conducting the annual Movie Quiz for the KQA, at the Daly Memorial Hall, Nrupathunga Road, Bangalore, on Sunday the 25th. Prelims at 3pm and finals at 4. Teams of 4. I'm thinking of burning a few movies as audience prizes, time permitting.

If you are bored and at a loose end on a Sunday afternoon, do hop over.

T20

GreatBong says it well.

News flash

Dravid resigns. You know what this means, don't you? Agarkar for captain! Yay!

Fear

I am getting more and more scared these days, as I grow older. Scared of a lot of things, none of which go bump in the night.

Scared my dad is losing his energy, the tremendous joie de vivre he used to have. I just can't imagine him without that smile on his face, that interest in everything and everyone. This started a month ago, after his fall where he had a hairline fracture on his hand and cut his eyebrow. I think he suddenly realized that he is sixty-five. I did, too.

Scared when my daughter spends two whole days coughing every other minute. I know it's just a throat infection, it will pass soon. But I am scared she'll get up in the night and cough some more, cough out more than what she should. Scared that I'm not doing the best I can as a father, as a protector, as an adult.

I had a rather bad accident close to a year back, when my car overturned. The vehicle was almost totally wrecked, it spent five months in the body shop before coming back home. I escaped with a couple of scratches and a finger that refuses to bend all the way. I am not really affected by that accident, shit happens. But I'm scared I've used up all my lives, could be game over the next time.

Scared of the country I live in, scared of a society which doesn't give a flying fuck about individuals. Scared of a vapid culture, a fast growing generation who are taught not to think, taught totally different kind of values, made to believe in gods they themselves know not to exist.

Hell, I'm one cowardly custard.

What's up, d00d

I'm planning to go visit a few cities all over India, trying to get some quality .Net developers. Does anyone know good tech leads and development manager types who are interested in working in Chennai? Product dev work, satisfaction guaranteed. Please contact the undersigned.

In other news, I bought Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion. Looks very promising. Have tossed it onto the Currently Reading pile, where it rubs shoulders with Stephen King's boring Lisey's Story and Lionel Shriver's intense We Need to Talk About Kevin.

Onam approacheth. Looking forward to the thadya.

Movies and books bought this time round

1. Raising Arizona
2. Ruthless People
3. Se7en
4. The Producers (the original, of course)
5. Assault on Precint 13 (ditto, ditto)
6. Deathtrap
7. Grease
8. Paris, Texas
9. The 3 Poison Ivy movies, in one DVD
10. Swimming Pool
11. Miller's Crossing

All at fairly good prices. I'm particularly happy with The Producers, Ruthless People, Deathtrap and Paris, Texas. Haven't seen them in local shops.

Books:

1. Twilight Watch - Sergei Lukyanenko. , thanks again for the tip. The books actually seem to get better as the series grows
2. Seven Habits of Highly Defective People - Scott Adams
3. My Wicked Wicked Ways - Errol Flynn
4. The Complete Stephen King Universe - Hank Wagner, Christopher Golden
5. Neruomancer - William Gibson. Got this and the Flynn for about a dollar each, gihahahaha.
6. Deathly Hallows - You know who.

I watched The Big Lebowski and downloaded Blood Simple too. Now for Barton Fink and The Hudsucker Proxy.

Baradwaj Rangan

One of my favourite reviewers won the National Award. Yay!

Pardon my language, but

Just who the fuck is Sanjay Dutt?

Death won, finally

Crossroads Guitar Festival

Damn! Would have tried to get tickets if I had known about this earlier. Just look at the lineup - Clapton, Jeff Beck, Sheryl Crow, Buddy Guy, BB King, Los Lobos, John Mayer, John McLaughlin, Willie Nelson, Steve Winwood..man! Hosted by Bill Murray to boot. Sold out in ten minutes, apparently.

Knocked Up

Knocked Up is the quintessential guy movie. I had a great time watching it and would strongly recommend it to any male, especially those in my age group. The jokes are brilliant, the male bonding stuff is so real, so cool, it makes you want to call your closest buddies and head over to the nearest pub.

If you are a wife/girlfriend/significant other, you might want to give this a miss. Seriously.

Deathly Hallows

Is very good indeed, but for the twee epilogue.

Movie of the year

Guys, watch Rataouille. No, really. Drop whatever you are doing right now and watch it. Go!

One of the best films I've seen in a long, long while.

Traveling Again

At the Frankfurt airport again. What joy! On the way to Indianapolis this time. What does one do there, I wonder.

Oh, well. Once more unto the breach.

Kiddie Tales Vol 4

It helps having your parents over to babysit your kid, especially during the long summer holidays. One problem though is that the kid gets influenced quite a bit by the grandparents. Having your child go through the usual Ramayana-as-told-by-grandma routine is to be expected, of course. What one doesn't expect though is to see the kid look at a spoonful of salt and go,"Oh, King Lear!". Not to mention said kid lifting left arm and pointing out,"Biceps, triceps and deltoid!".

Deltoid, indeed.

Thoughts from the last few days

Facebook trumps orkut hands down. The first social networking site I've been impressed with.

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Last.fm is a pretty good site for music. Plugs in well - I think - into your music player too.

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Ocean's 13 has quite a few in-jokes. I got one Godfather reference - when Reuben is sick and asks Danny,"I hear cars coming and going, I hear Linus crying. I think you should tell me what everyone seems to know." I missed the others - two characters named Virgil and Turk, Danny telling Banks "What I want, what's most important to me...." and the fact that Scott Caan is the son of James Caan.

The last dialogue between Danny and Rusty was good. Rusty - ok, Brad Pitt - telling Clooney to try and keep the weight off between jobs next time, which is a reference to the weight Clooney put on for Syriania. Clooney responds by asking Pitt to settle down and have a couple of kids, which doesn't need to be explained.

Linus' fake nose being called The Brody was pretty funny too. Hope Adrien Brody is laughing somewhere.

Edward Copeland's top 100

Pretty good list, for anyone interested in movies. His blog should be on your reading list too.

Wherever I roam

I post.

Ha ha ha.

And then

And then you have a few friends who can cheer you up by just being there, talking about anything in the world, just being there with you and not judging you, not giving you advice, listening without prejudice.

You know who you are. Thanks, guys.

Rocky Revisited

I keep coming back to Rocky. When I get depressed, I turn to the Gonna Fly Now theme music, or the rejuvenating Eye of the Tiger. When I feel I need to exercise but just can't be bothered enough to go out and run, I watch the training montages and make myself believe I can do all that.

Saw Rocky Balboa the other day and just broke down, completely.


The guy is old, over the hill, there's no way in hell he can win. No way he can pull off a miracle, trying to compete with someone young.

He loses, of course.

Not without a fight, though. He did what he does best - continue fighting, last the distance. Because that's all he knows to do, that's all he can do. Keep fighting, knowing that he'll lose, not giving a damn.

Continue fighting, go the distance.

Quiz

http://www.drinknation.com/urinaltest.php

I got a 40 / 60.

Spider-man 3

I saw Spidey 3 the day it was released in the US, some six weeks ago. The only thing I remember from the movie is Peter Parker's singing and dancing act in that NY club, a la Shammi Kapoor. A total waste of time.

A Film by Arvind

Not bad, at least the first half. I liked one particular moment in the climax too, when the scriptwriter..ok, no spoilers.

The story is about a Director-Actor duo who hit the road to plan their next movie together. The director has half a script with him, which he finds interesting. He finds it even more interesting when the script comes alive, as he and his friend travel in their Tata Safari (of course) and pick up a hitchhiker or two (natch).

The pace isn't sustained till the end and the movie just gives up after a couple of hours. Still, worth a watch, at least for its novelty value. Thanks, Jayasankar.

Shrek the Third

A.k.a Shrek the Worst. Doesn't generate a single laugh, not even from my four year old who has been looking forward to this movie ever since she learnt the art of how to look forward to movies from her dad.

My biggest complaint is that Shrek has been reduced to a caricature of himself, a figure who is forced to look upon his own story from the sidelines. Gone is the mean, green fighting machine from the first and second parts.

The movie drags from the beginning to the weary, lazy, slipshod finale. Wish I could find something positive to say. Tough. Sad.

To-do list

1. Offer to coach the Indian cricket team.
2. Visit all cab drivers in Bangalore in the calm of the day - since they are awake at night - and drive a stake into their hearts. Dance on their graves if possible.
3. Send stink bombs to all directors of the various Part 3 movies that have been released this year. Ok, maybe not to Mr Soderbergh.
4. Sire an offspring from the Tatas, name her Thiruvananthapuram Taj and unleash her on an unsuspecting American public.
5. Kidnap all RJs in Bangalore, lock them up in a room and make them listen to Aap Ka Suroor 24 x 7. Allow brief pauses for vacuous talk on how to analyze a person by looking at their fingernails.
6. Get drunk.

100 Greatest Movie Lines

From Empire magazine:

100. "I see dead people." — Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) in The Sixth Sense (1999).



99. "I'd hate to take a bite outta you. You're a cookie full of arsenic." — J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) in The Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

98. "You want me to hold the chicken, huh?" "I want you to hold it between your knees." — Waitress and Robert Dupea (Jack Nicholson) in Five Easy Pieces (1970)

97. "You're tearing me apart!" — Jim Stark (James Dean) in Rebel Without a Cause (1955

96. "Yippie kay-yay, motherfucker." — John McClane (Bruce Willis) in Die Hard (1988)

95. "I'll be back." — The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) in The Terminator (1984)

94. "Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death." — Mame (Rosalind Russell) in Auntie Mame (1958)

93. "Precious" — Gollum (Andy Serkis) in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

92. "You can't handle the truth!" — Colonel Jessep (Jack Nicholson) in A Few Good Men (1992)

91. "I am big. It's the pictures that got small." — Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) in Sunset Boulevard (1950).

90. "Old age... it's the only disease, Mr. Thompson, that you don't look forward to being cured of." — Bernstein (Everett Sloane) in Citizen Kane (1941)

89. "No wire hangers!" — Joan Crawford (Faye Dunaway) in Mommie Dearest (1981)

88. "We find the defendants incredibly guilty." — Jury foreman (Bill Macy) in The Producers (1967)

87. "How am I funny?" — Tommy (Joe Pesci) in GoodFellas (1990)

86. "Can I borrow your underpants for ten minutes?" — The Geek (Anthony Michael Hall) in Sixteen Candles (1984)

85. "It was beauty killed the beast." — Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) in King Kong (1933)

84. "Oh, behave!" — Austin Powers (Mike Myers) in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

83. "I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way." — Jessica Rabbit (Kathleen Turner) in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

82. "Dave, my mind is going... I can feel it." — HAL the computer (voiced by Douglas Rain) in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

81. "You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?... They call it a Royale with cheese." — Vincent Vega (John Travolta) in Pulp Fiction (1994)

80. "Show me the money." — Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.) in Jerry Maguire (1997)

79. "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" — Howard Beale (Peter Finch) in Network (1976)

78. "Hey, don't knock masturbation — it's sex with someone I love!" — Woody Allen as Alvy Singer in Annie Hall (1977)

77. "You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow." — Marie Browning (Lauren Bacall) in To Have and Have Not (1944)

76. "They call me Mister Tibbs!" — Sidney Poitier in In The Heat of the Night (1967)

75. "As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again!" — Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) in Gone With the Wind (1939)

74. "Don't you fuckin' look at me!" — Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper) in Blue Velvet (1986)

73. "I gave her my heart, and she gave me a pen." — Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) in Say Anything (1989)

72. "If they move, kill 'em." — Pike (William Holden) in The Wild Bunch (1969)

71. "Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown!" — Walsh (Joe Mantell) in Chinatown (1974)

70. "Greed... is good." — Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) in Wall Street (1987)

69. "Come back, Shane!" — Joey Starrett (Brandon De Wilde) in Shane (1953)

68. "Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!" — Bill Murray as Dr. Venkman in Ghostbusters (1984)

67. "Go, get the butter." — Paul (Marlon Brando) in Last Tango in Paris (1973)

66. "The horror... the horror... " — Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) in Apocalypse Now (1979)

65. "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." — Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) in Casablanca (1942)

64. "I am Spartacus." — Antonius (Tony Curtis) and other rebelling slaves in Spartacus (1960)

63. "We belong dead." — The Monster (Boris Karloff) in Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

62. "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." — Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) in The Wizard of Oz (1939)

61. "I was a better man with you as a woman than I ever was with a woman as a man. Know what I mean?" — Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) in Tootsie (1982)

60. "Licorice, mmmm. If there's anything I'm a sucker for, it's licorice." — Adam Bonner (Spencer Tracy), biting off the barrel of a candy gun he has pointed into his mouth, in Adam's Rib (1949)

59. "Gentleman, you can't fight here! This is the war room!" — President Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers) in Dr. Strangelove (1964)

58. At a press conference in A Hard Day's Night (1964), a reporter asks Beatle Ringo Starr if he's a mod or a rocker. "I'm a mocker," Ringo replies.

57. "Wait a minute, you ain't heard nothin' yet!" — Jack Robin (Al Jolson), speaking what's frequently cited as the first spoken movie line, in The Jazz Singer (1927)

56. "Yeah, I was in the shit." — Mr. Blume (Bill Murray) in Rushmore (1998)

55. "I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!" — Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson) in Snakes on a Plane (2006)

54. "Michael... we're bigger than U.S. Steel." — Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg) in The Godfather Part II (1974)

53. "All of a sudden she's playing Hamlet's mother!" — Birdie (Thelma Ritter) in All About Eve(1950)

52. "Hello, everybody. This is Mrs. Norman Maine." — Janet Gaynor in A Star is Born (1937)

51. "Bond. James Bond." — Sean Connery in Dr. No (1962)

50. "Get away from her, you bitch!" — Sigourney Weaver (Ripley) in Aliens (1986)

49. "So I got that going for me, which is nice." — Carl Spackler (Bill Murray) in Caddyshack (1980)

48. "E.T. phone home." — E.T. (voiced by Debra Winger... maybe) in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

47. "Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars." — Charlotte Vale (Bette Davis) in Now, Voyager (1942)

46. "You shouldn't ask me for advice... When it comes to relationships with women, I'm the winner of the August Strindberg award." — Isaac Davis (Woody Allen) in Manhattan (1979)

45. "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." — Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall) in Apocalypse Now (1979)

44. "That is one nutty hospital." — Bill Murray's Jeff Slater in Tootsie (1982)

43. "You know, you haven't stopped talking since I came here? You must have been vaccinated with a phonograph needle." — Groucho Marx in Duck Soup (1933)

42. "I stick my neck out for nobody." — Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) in Casablanca (1942)

41. "You're gonna need a bigger boat." — Brody (Roy Scheider) in Jaws (1975)

40. "Lovely... lovely." — Bob Rusk (Barry Foster) in Frenzy (1972)

39. "I just want to say one word to you - just one word... 'Plastics.'..: There's a great future in plastics." — Mr. McGuire (Walter Brooke) in The Graduate (1967)

38. "We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives." — Criswell in Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)

37. "A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti." — Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

36. "Here's Johnny!" — Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) in The Shining (1980)

35. "Gentleman, you can't fight here! This is the war room!" — President Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers) in Dr. Strangelove (1964) - A repeat!

34. "Top of the world! Made it, Ma!" — Cody Jarrett (James Cagney) in White Heat (1949)

33. "I'll have what she's having." — An older female customer at Katz's Deli, in When Harry Met Sally (1989)

32. "Mother of mercy... is this the end of Rico?" — Rico (Edward G. Robinson) in Little Caesar (1930)

31. "He was the village idiot!"
"Yeah, what'd you do, place?" — Boris Grushenko (Woody Allen) and another Russian soldier in Love and Death (1975)

30. "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine." — Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) in Casablanca (1942)

29. "You owe me money!!" — Bert Gordon (George C. Scott) in The Hustler (1961)

28. "I don't know nothin' 'bout birthing babies!" — Prissy (Butterfly McQueen) in Gone With the Wind (1939)

27. "The first rule of Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club." — Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) in Fight Club (1999)

26. "Mein Fuhrer! I can walk!" — Dr. Strangelove (Peter Sellers) in Dr. Strangelove (1964)

25. "You won't bore him, honey. You won't even get a chance to talk." — Miss Caswell (Marilyn Monroe) in All About Eve (1950)

24. "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain." — The Wizard of Oz (Frank Morgan) in The Wizard of Oz (1939)

23. "Go ahead. Make My Day." — Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) in Dirty Harry (1971)

22. "May the Force be with you." — Han Solo (Harrison Ford) in Star Wars (1977)

21. "Get in my belly!" — Fat Bastard (Mike Myers) in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

20. "As far back as I could remember I've always wanted to be a gangster." — Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) in Goodfellas (1990)

19. "Well, there's something you don't see every day." — Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) in Ghostbusters (1984)

18. "I wish I knew how to quit you." — Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) in Brokeback Mountain (2005)

17. "I know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart. You broke my heart." — Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) in The Godfather Part II

16. "Hello, Clarice." — Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) in The Silence of The Lambs (1991)

15. "You sly dog! You got me monologuing!" — Syndrome (Jason Lee) in The Incredibles (2004)

14. "I am the author. You are the audience. I outrank you!" — Franz Liebkind (Kenneth Mars) in The Producers (1967)

13. "We didn't need dialogue. We had faces." — Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) in Sunset Boulevard (1950)

12. "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night!" — Margo (Bette Davis) in All About Eve (1950)

11. "There's no place like home." — Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) in The Wizard of Oz (1939)

10. "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse." — Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) in The Godfather (1972)

9. "Adrian!" — Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) in Rocky (1976)

8. "You talkin' to me?" — Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) in Taxi Driver (1976)

7. "I coulda been a contender." — Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) in On the Waterfront (1954)

6. "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up." — Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) in Sunset Boulevard (1950)

5. "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me, aren't you?" — Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) in The Graduate (1967)

4. "I'm the king of the world!" — Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) in Titanic (1997)

3. "Rosebud." — Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) in Citizen Kane (1941)

2. "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." — Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) in Gone With the Wind (1939)

1. "Here's looking at you, kid." — Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) in Casablanca (1942)

Goodbye, Lara

Damn. Can't believe he won't bat anymore.

Big B

Talking CCTV scolds offenders.

The world this weak

In other news, 171 people were killed in Baghdad.

The Lookout

Saw this yesterday night without knowing much about the story. Just remembered it had a pretty high tomatometer rating and the protagonist had a mental disability. The movie was surprisingly good: one of those low budget movies from Miramax with relatively unknown actors - Jeff Daniels was the only face I recognized.

Starts off well, slow buildup and a good, albeit predictable, climax. Nice doses of humour throughout the movie too.

Worth a watch.

Accomplishment of the day

After a lot of strenuous googling, found out the name of the song that features in a key sequence in Death Proof. The song, boys and girls, is Hold Tight by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich. I managed to get the mp3 too, from here.

Grindhouse

I'm thrilled to bits that I watched Grindhouse in the US, as one full segment: both features and all the three previews. Muahahahaha!

Bloody brilliant.

Planet Terror is the B movie to end all B movies. It's got everything - and I mean everything. Right from the sherrif who won't believe the hero to the rapist who loses his..well, I don't want to spoil the fun for you. And oh, Naveen Andrews has some balls!

Death Proof starts off as another B movie satire, but quickly morphs into a Tarantino flick, which is what you've paid money for anyway. Lots and lots of dialog, a bad ass bad guy, cool chicks and a killer soundtrack. I've become a fan of Sydney Poitier, by the way. And that's no typo.

Grindhouse

Just got back after watching Grindhouse - I'm thrilled to bits that I saw it in the US as one full segment: both features and all the four previews. Muahahahaha!

Bloody brilliant.

Planet Terror is the B movie to end all B movies. It's got everything - and I mean everything. Right from the sherrif who won't believe the hero to the rapist who loses his..well, I don't want to spoil the fun for you. And oh, Naveen Andrews has some balls!

Death Proof starts off as another B movie satire, but quickly morphs into a Tarantino flick, which is what you've paid money for anyway. Lots and lots of dialog, a bad ass bad guy, cool chicks and a killer soundtrack. I've become a fan of Sydney Poitier, by the way. And that's no typo.

Updated: The trailers are up on YouTube:

Thanksgiving: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYBI-OcoylQ

Don't: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka83i_e_v8M

Werewolf Women of the SS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j06FDBuDLHE

Hobo With a Shotgun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LlazPgxKrA (This was not shown in the US, was displayed only in Canada)

Don't know how long they will be up. Machete was available but it was brought down, I think.

This one's for you, <lj user="beatzo">

Top ten torture scenes as per filmwad.

Not for the squeamish. Oh, definitely not.

The Holiday

The Holiday is a heart-wearming tale of two women (Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet) who, having been treated un-heart-warmingly by their lovers, decide to exchange homes and find their hearts warmed by Jude Law and Jack Black respectively. Quite heart-warming, really. Especially Kate Winslet in a slinky black dress.

Varalaru

Varalaru stars Ajith, Ajith and Ajith in a complicated saga of emotions, drama and dance. The story goes like this - Ajith is a classical dancer, whose wife-to-be walks out on their wedding date as she finds him effeminate. His mother dies of a heart attack while watching this, so he does the obvious thing: he rapes the girl and proves his manhood.

Girl walks away with tearful mom, delivers two baby boys, Ajith and Ajith. Ajith the father takes one of them, not knowing the existence of the other. He wants to ensure his son grows up normally, and does the obvious thing again: he pretends to be paralysed and spends the rest of his life in a wheel-chair.

Meanwhile, the other Ajith grows up to become a lunatic, hell bent on killing his father. En route, he rapes a woman, attempts to kill a man and generally makes an ass of himself. The third Ajith - ah, forget it. You really don't want to know.

A must watch, of course.

Two movies - spoiler warning!

Varalaru - stars Ajith, Ajith and Ajith in a complicated saga of emotions, drama and dance. The story goes like this - Ajith is a classical dancer, whose wife-to-be walks out on their wedding date as she finds him effeminate. His mother dies of a heart attack while watching this, so he does the obvious thing: he rapes the girl and proves his manhood.

Girl walks away with tearful mom, delivers two baby boys, Ajith and Ajith. Ajith the father takes one of them, not knowing the existence of the other. He wants to ensure his son grows up normally, and does the obvious thing again: he pretends to be paralysed and spends the rest of his life in a wheel-chair.

Meanwhile, the other Ajith grows up to become a lunatic, hell bent on killing his father. En route, he rapes a woman, attempts to kill a man and generally makes an ass of himself. The third Ajith - ah, forget it. You really don't want to know.

A must watch, of course.

Next up was The Holiday, a heart-wearming tale of two women (Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet) who, having been treated un-heart-warmingly by their lovers, decide to exchange homes and find their hearts warmed by Jude Law and Jack Black respectively. Quite heart-warming, really. Especially Kate Winslet in a slinky black dress.

Gold access

For the first time, I'm thankful to the credit card marketeers who sold me a Gold Mastercard a couple of years back. It got me admission into a neat little lounge at the Chennai Airport, where I could get a glass of beer, some excellent Chicken Kabab and much needed peace and quiet.

This entry has cleverly been filtered to prevent the you-know-whos of the world from advising me about airports and lounges and credit cards.

Man, I can be mean.

Cross one

Ok, so that's one off my long term to-do list. Watched The Never Ending Story with my daughter.

Over the weekend

* We really should have taken Mohd. Kaif. At least his family has experience in dealing with goons pelting stones at one's house.

* Sachin Tendulkar to appear in a comic book. About time.

* Phir Hera Pheri wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. They did manage to Indianise Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels quite well.

* Don't go for long drives in a non a/c car. Or at least, not during afternoons in summer

Thought of the day

You can keep your Atticus Finches and your Sidney Cartons. To me, Rabbit Angstrom is the most well written character I've ever read.

Hello, Delhi

Karol Bagh sucks. Found succour at Hotel Diplomat, in Chanakyapuri. Not a bad place, but the room rent is what you might pay at the Leela in Bangalore.

Movie Quiz at the KQA

The KQA's Annual Movie Quiz will be held on Sunday 25 February 2007 at the Daly Memorial Hall, Nrupatunga Road, Bangalore. The details:

QM: Madhav Nair

Prelims: 1530hrs sharp
Finals: 1630hrs blunt

Open to teams of two members
Entry Fee: Rs. 50/-

Prizes

I: Rs. 2000/-
II: Rs. 1500/-
III: Rs. 1000/-

All other finalists will receive prizes. Several audience prizes are also being handed out.