Fun-Continuously

Upcoming Hollywood movies releasing in 2010

2010-03-15T21:37:00.000-07:00

Upcoming Hollywood movies releasing in March 2010
March 5, 2010: Alice in Wonderland
March 12, 2010: Green Zone
March 16, 2010: The Back-Up Plan
March 19, 2010: Season of the Witch
March 26, 2010: How to Train Your Dragon

Upcoming Hollywood movies releasing in April 2010
April 2, 2010: Repo Men
April 9, 2010: The Losers
April 16, 2010: Piranha 3-D
April 22, 2010: Oceans
April 23, 2010: Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps
April 30, 2010: A Nightmare On Elm Street

Upcoming Hollywood movies releasing in May 2010
May 7, 2010: Iron Man 2
May 14, 2010: Robin Hood
May 21, 2010: Shrek Forever After
May 28, 2010: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Upcoming Hollywood movies releasing in June 2010
June 4, 2010: Killers
June 11, 2010: The A-Team
June 18, 2010: Toy Story 3
June 25, 2010: Grown Ups
June 30, 2010: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Upcoming Hollywood movies releasing in July 2010
July 2, 2010: The Last Airbender
July 9, 2010: Despicable Me
July 16, 2010: The Sorcerer's Apprentice
July 23, 2010: Salt +1 more release
July 30, 2010: Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

Upcoming Hollywood movies releasing in August 2010
August 6, 2010: Step Up 3-D
August 13, 2010: Ramona and Beezus
August 20, 2010: The Expendables
August 27, 2010: Resident Evil: Afterlife

Upcoming Hollywood movies releasing in September 2010
September 3, 2010: Born to Be a Star
September 10, 2010: The Town
September 17, 2010: Warrior
September 24, 2010: Guardians of Ga'Hoole

Upcoming Hollywood movies releasing in October 2010
October 1, 2010: Priest October 8, 2010: The Zookeeper
October 15, 2010: Faster
October 22, 2010: Saw VII

Upcoming Hollywood movies releasing in November 2010
November 5, 2010: MegaMind November 12, 2010: Unstoppable
November 19, 2010: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I
November 24, 2010: Rapunzel 3-D

Upcoming Hollywood movies releasing in December 2010
December 10, 2010: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
December 17, 2010: Tron: Legacy
December 22, 2010: The Green Hornet

My Name Is Khan

2010-03-12T22:59:00.000-08:00

My Name Is Khan (Hindi: माय नेम इज़ ख़ान;^[3] commonly referred to as MNIK) is a 2010 Bollywood film directed byKaran Johar, with a screenplay by Shibani Bathija, produced by Hiroo Yash Johar and Gauri Khan, and starring Shahrukh Khan and Kajol.^[4]^[5] It is overseen by both Dharma Productions and Red Chillies Entertainmentand will be distributed by FOX Star Entertainment, which bought the rights for the film for the sum of INR 1 billion, thus becoming the second most expensive Bollywood film, behind Blue.^[6] It is also the highest buyover for any Indian film, breaking Ghajini's record of INR 900 million.

My Name Is Khan is Karan Johar's fourth directorial venture. Cinematography is by Ravi K. Chandran, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy composed the film's score, choreography is byFarah Khan, and lyrics were written by Niranjan Iyengar.^[7]Visual Effects are by Red Chillies VFX.

My Name is Khan debuted in Abu Dhabi, UAE on 10 February 2010.^[8] It released globally in theaters on 12 February 2010.^[1] It will also be screened as part of the60th Berlin International Film Festival's Official Selection that same month.^[9] In the months leading up to its release, the film has also been involved in some controversy related to international airport security and Indian politics.

Upon release, the film nearly broke box office records for an Indian film all over the world and is second to the highest grosser 3 Idiots . It is the highest grosser in its opening weekend and a highest opening day overseas for a Bollywood film. It is also the second-highest worldwide grosser in its opening weekend, behind 3 Idiots and the third-highest net collections in the first week for a Bollywood film. Within four weeks, the film crossed the INR 700 million mark in India and over INR 2 billion worldwide, and became the first film of 2010 to do so. It is now the highest grossing Indian film in the overseas market.

Cast

Actor/Actress	Role
Shahrukh Khan	Rizwan Khan
Kajol	Mandira
Yuvaan Makaar	Sameer (Sam)
Zarina Wahab	Rizwan's mother
Tanay Chheda	Rizwan Khan (as a young child)
Jimmy Shergill	Zakir Khan
Sonya Jehan	Haseena Khan
Parvin Dabas	Bobby Ahuja
Arjun Mathur	Raj
Sugandha Garg	Komal
Sheetal Menon	Radha
Christopher B. Duncan	Barack Obama
Kenton Duty	Reese Garick
Michael Arnold	Reese Garick (as a child)
Dominic Renda	Mark Garrick
Katie A. Keane	Sarah Garrick
Arif Zakaria	Faisal Rahman
Vinay Pathak	Jitesh
Jennifer Echols	Mama Jenny
Benny Nieves	Detective Garcia
Kavin Dave	Hacker

The film broke box office records:

The film broke box office records during its opening weekend because of over hype and controversies. It ranked #5 in the overseas box office with Avatar, Valentine's Day, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, and The Wolfman, in the first, second, third, and fourth spots.^[35] In addition, on a global scale, "almost every record for Bollywood films was broken globally. Internationally, it is the biggest International opening day by almost 30% of its closest competitor, 3 Idiots." ^[36]. The film also went on to gross the second highest worldwide opening weekend for a Bollywood film after 3 Idiots. Second Phase will be released in May.

[edit]India

In India, despite having a limited release in Maharashtra, Gujarat and parts of Madhya Pradesh on Friday, MNIK’s weekend collections were very good, with the film earning INR 295 million (US$ 6.4 million).^[37] The film had the third highest first-weekend collections in India, behind 3 Idiots and Ghajini. After its first weekend, the film started showing noticeable falls in some areas of India. However, it managed to hold steady in its first week. The film netted INR 460.8 million (US$ 10 million) in its first week.^[38] Most people reasoned that the film's decline in the Indian box office was due to "lack of entertainment and repeat value", as its subject was "serious", unlike 3 Idiots which is considered to have a very high entertainment value.

[edit]Overseas

My Name is Khan grossed the biggest opening day overseas, taking an estimated INR 170 million, beating the overseas opening day collections of 3 Idiots. The film also grossed the biggest opening weekend overseas, taking an estimated INR 255 million, again beating the overseas opening weekend collections of 3 Idiots which grossed INR 185 million. In its first week, it grossed a "whopping" INR 393 million (US$ 8.5 million).^[39] By its third week, MNIK crossed 3 Idiots - the previous highest-grossing film overseas - in the overseas box office, thus becoming the highest-grossing Bollywood film outside India.

[edit]UK

In the UK, it made £123,000 on its opening day,^[40] which was more than the combined total of 3 Idiotsin its first two days (£121,000). By the end of the second week, MNIK became only the third Bollywood film to cross the £2 million mark in the UK, after Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and Veer-Zaara, according to the exchange rates prevailing at their respective times of release.^[41] It is being predicted that MNIK can earn £2.62 million by the end of its run, and may thus become the highest-grossing Bollywood film in the UK.

[edit]Oceania

In Australia, the film earned an impressive AUS$ 39,000 (INR 16.1 lakhs) on its opening day, and was ranked #11 in the market. By the first weekend, the film earned US$ 437,687, defeating the previous record set by 3 Idiots (US$ 350,000).^[42]^[43] In New Zealand and Fiji, the film earned NZ$ 13,627 on its opening day, and earned NZ$ 144,831 (US$ 100,698) in its first week. By the second weekend, the film earned NZ$ 268,838 (US$ 184,933).

[edit]Middle East

In the Middle East and Pakistan,^[44]^[45] the response to the film has been described as "huge" and it earned approximately US$ 300,000 on its opening day.^[36] This revenue is expected to go up, with the introduction of more prints into non-traditional markets. By its first weekend, the film grossed US$ 890,000, breaking the previous record set by Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (US$ 830,000). It broke all previous box office records by the end of the first week, earning US$ 1.75 million.^[46] By its third week, MNIK has become the highest-grossing Bollywood film in the Middle East, earning US$ 3.3 million.^[47]

[edit]USA & Canada

My Name Is Khan has broken all previous opening weekend box office records for North America (Canada and U.S.) with $1.94 million in returns.^[48] By the end of the first week, the film grossed US$ 2,552,283 (INR 11.77 crores), second only to 3 Idiots which had a Christmas holiday week. By the third weekend, the film earned US$ 3,634,423 (INR 166,820,016), breaking SRK's previous record set by Om Shanti Om.

A shortened version of the film was released for the American audiences.

[edit]Other non-traditional Areas

My Name is Khan also opened well in Sri Lanka, Singapore, South Africa and Malaysia. In South Africa, the film earned US$ 85,214 (Rs. 39.28 lakhs) in its opening weekend.^[49] In Malaysia, it earned MYR105,527 (US$ 31,106) in its opening weekend, and by the second weekend, the film had earned MYR 410,864 (US$ 120,452).^[49] In Nigeria, the film earned an "impressive" NGN 2,310,137 (US$ 15,362) in its opening weekend.^[49] In Ghana, the film earned GHS 10,599 (US$ 7,443) by the second weekend. In Indonesia, the film has grown from six to 14 screens and has seen a jump of 300 percent in week three.^[50]

[edit]Critical reception

[edit]India

My Name Is Khan was well received by top critics in India. The website Indian Box Office Server has given the film a user rating of 8.15/10.

Subhash K. Jha (film critic and author of The Essential Guide to Bollywood) gave My Name Is Khan a rave review arguing that Rizwan Khan "repairs almost anything, including irreparably damaged relationships. But this film about damaged lives needs no repairing. My Name Is Khan is a flawless work, as perfect in content, tone and treatment as any film can get [...] My Name Is Khan is no ordinary film. Long after the wary-of-physical-touch Rizwan has finally shaken hands with President Obama, long after the heat and dust of racial and communal hatred has settled down the core of humanism that the film secretes stays with you. Yes, we finally know what they mean by a feelgood film." ^[51] Nikhat Kazmi of the The Times of India also gave it five stars, describing My Name Is Khan as, "indubitably one of the most meaningful and moving films to be rolled out from the Bollywood mills in recent times."^[52] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave My Name Is Khan four and a half out of five stars and argues, "When a film stars two of the finest talents of the country, you expect nothing but the best. SRK, well, how does one describe his performance? To state that this is his best work so far would be cutting short the praise he truly deserves [...] Kajol is pure dynamite and casting her for this character was the most appropriate decision. No other actress could've matched SRK in histrionics the way Kajol has. In fact, SRK and Kajol complement each other wonderfully well and this film only proves it yet again. It's a powerhouse performance from this supremely talented actress." ^[53] Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave My Name Is Khan three and a half out of five stars, arguing that "the film shamelessly tugs at your heartstrings and on more than one occasion wallops you to weep. Aided by solid camerawork, tight editing and a layered story, Johar crafts an engaging, stirring saga that is earnest and noble. With this message movie in the mainstream format, the director takes a step in the right direction."^[54]

[edit]USA

The film received mixed reviews from U.S. critics and media outlets. As of 21 February 2010, the film has a score of 50 out of a scale of 100 on the review aggregate website Metacritic. The 50 out of 100 is according to only 7 critics. According to user ratings, the film has 8.7/10.^[55] The IMDb website has given the film a user rating of 7.0/10.^[56] Rotten Tomatoes has not given the film a consensus rating yet, but it has 3 positive and 1 negative review.

Rachel Saltz of The New York Times states, "Khan is one of a handful of Hindi films (New York,Kurbaan) about Indians living in a paranoid, post-9/11 America, and there’s something fascinating about looking at this country through a Bollywood lens, even when the story is a kind of fairy tale. (Most interesting here is the link made between black Americans and Indians, especially Muslims.) Skillfully directed by Karan Johar and with an evocative score by Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy, Khan jerks tears with ease, while teaching lessons about Islam and tolerance." ^[57] According to Kirk Honeycutt of theHollywood Reporter, My Name Is Khan is, "a film that delves compellingly into Americans' anti-Muslim hysteria" as it tackles "a subject American movies have mostly avoided -- that of racial profiling and the plight of Muslim-Americans. It also allows Shah Rukh Khan to display his talent to an even wider audience. It's well worth the 162-minute journey."^[58] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times argues that My Name Is Khan is "a potent, energetic heart-tugger and Khan and Kajol, major Bollywood stars, are highly appealing and equal to the demand of their emotion-charged roles."^[59] Jay Wesissberg ofVariety describes My Name Is Khan as a "riotously overstuffed and enormously enjoyable drama" with "confident camerawork [which] is matched by exceptional production design" He also states that Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol are a "delight together and her natural warmth makes the relationship even more believable." ^[3]

[edit]High profile screenings

My Name Is Khan will be screened as part of the 60th Berlin International Film Festival's Official Selection in February 2010.^[9] The website eBay auctioned the tickets for the film's screening at the Berlin Film Festival for a record price of EUR 1,000 (INR 60,000) each. All the tickets were sold out in five seconds.^[60]

Importance of fun even at work

2010-03-11T01:03:00.001-08:00

There was this friend of mine who, year after year, would get the highest scores in the employee opinion survey, and his team had the lowest attrition among all the teams in the organisation. And wait, the worse is yet to come. Every year, he would be well within his salary budgets and offer the lowest in terms of salary hikes and bonuses to his team. How the hell does he manage to do all that, we would wonder. Until one day I sat with him and asked him how he managed to do all of this.

That’s when he started spilling the beans. In his view, “business has to be fun.” This was an important factor for work and the success of his teams. According to him, creating an exciting work culture is the best way to motivate and retain good people. And surprise of surprises, you do n’t even have to pay them much to stay with you. They will do so on their own. He went on to add that this was a particularly useful asset if one does not have the reputation as a world class organisation, a visionary or a brilliant inventor to fall back on. Being clever is all very well, but ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’.

The conversation with him was no rocket science, but was an eye-opener nevertheless.

Why do people leave organisations? They don’t find the job challenging, are unhappy with their supervisor, think that they are paid less than what they deserve, are unhappy with their jobs, their careers. Don’t all of these point to one single factor — unhappiness at work, unhappiness about the job, career, pay, te am, supervisor and so on.

For a minute, just think of a person being happy at work, about someone who is having fun at work. Will he ever think of quitting? Will he ever think of leaving the team that he enjoys being a part of. Will he even contemplate divorcing an organisation that ma kes life exciting for him? Of course not! People will be willing to ignore small issues, overlook career challenges, not really be fussed up about work hours, and ensure timely delivery, provided they are happy about what they are

doing and are having fun at work.

The extreme importance of fun at work cannot be underestimated. It can have catastrophic consequences in organisations where it does not exist. What is this fun at wo rk? Does it mean just jumping around at the workplaces, pl aying some team games, for cibly putting people together and getting them to simulate a team, dance, music and so on? Is this what fun at work means? If you have worked long enough, you would realise that at best all this is a part of having fun at work.

Having fun at work means enjoying doing what you are doing while spending half yo ur life. After all, isn’t that the time you spend at work? This could be in the form of generic fun through all that I have outlined above. But all that stuff is short-lived, gives instant gratification to your ne ed to be pepped up.

For sustained long-term fun, one needs to feel good at work. One needs to be happy about what one is doing. And that comes through a feeling that what you are doing is toward a cause. What you are doing is important to the organisation and is going toward contributing to an overall organisational goal. And this is where the supervisor has a very important role to play.

In any organisation, in any team, you cannot have a unified approach to having fun at work. Perception of fun at work is different for different people. A good supervisor, if he is able to identify what turns on different employees and then adopts divergent approaches to these employees to ensure that they all feel good about being a part of his team, can easily ensure that employees stay with him.

Feel-good and fun at work is all about finding the right nerve to touch in every single employee and ensure that th ey get what they want. It’s not about money. It’s a combination of fun, rewards, recognition, thank yous and, most importantly, employees being a part of a common organisational goal and fe eling that th ey are an important consti tuent to achieving that goal.

If organisations reach this state of employee engageme nt and motivation, it might ju st put the recruitment consultants out of business.

The writer is a senior banker at HSBC. These are his personal views

Beautiful & Cute Birds

2010-03-08T01:00:00.000-08:00

What a place to sit

2010-03-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

Where the Funny Plants Grow?

2010-03-07T23:51:00.000-08:00

by Gabi McLean

A vast expanse between the mountains and the ocean starts where the San Gabriel River empties into the valley. With every winter storm, the old river used to heap more sand and gravel onto the huge alluvium of the Los Angeles basin. Today, the forces of the river are reined in upstream by Morris Dam and San Gabriel Dam. Just a trickle of water reaches the valley now. The alluvial fan, the flood plain, and the ocean's beaches are no longer naturally replenished with sand from the mountains. But the lay of the land hasn't changed. The sandy soil on top of ancient layers of rocks and gravel, washed out of the mountains over thousands of years, supports a curious mix of plant species. While most of this alluvial scrub has given way to development, there are a thousand acres of this now rare habitat still intact, just north of the Santa Fe Dam Recreational Area.

Last fall when I visited, the dry shrubs all looked alike at first glance. But soon I began to notice differences in the color and height of the stems, their growth patterns, the remnants of leaves and fruit. I came to recognize the bare straight stems of poison oak with its dry berries. Sagebrush formed a messy mass of thin, brittle branchlets, often with tiny, dried fruit along the tips - its ever-present fragrance helped me identify it. Scale broom made itself known by the long, parallel, dark brown branches, and the persistent dried flower remnants looked like stenciled flowers in a picture book. Sturdy redberry gave itself away by its thorn-like branchlets, sticking out at right angles. I recognized black sage with its black, dried-up flower clusters along the squared stems. Walnuts and elderberries had lost their leaves, and only their silhouette and shaggy old bark gave me the hints of their identity. Some of the most massive elderberry trees that I have ever found are here.

Not everything was dry though. I found a variety of colors in the evergreens: the ancient juniper, the ever-present lemonadeberry, the occasional white sage and sugar bush, the different species of prickly pear cactus, and the unique and much-treasured valley cholla.

When winter brings cold, snow and ice to the North and the near-by mountains, here in the valley spring begins. The new leaves of the golden currant were the first, announcing the change of the season. Then cactus pads and the sagebrush started greening up, and in just a few weeks, we enjoyed our first flowers. The golden currant started blooming in January, followed by the lemonadeberry. Sunflowers, purple nightshade, and four-o-clock continued the bloom sequence. On Valentine's day, we discovered a few of the tiny, but oh-so-beautiful and bright, ground-pink. Black sage and the many elderberry trees started leafing out, and golden currant and lemonadeberry were still in bloom in mid-February, several weeks after they first started flowering.

Now I am looking forward to the special mix of wildflowers at the dam's natural area. I remember last year's gilias and canchalagua, gold cups and penstemon, western thistle, and the beautiful, salmon-colored prickly pear flowers. I remember the stunning profusion of dudleya flowers and scarlet larkspur in May and June when the phainopepla visits from the desert and raises its second brood here.

And I remember my young neighbor as I asked if she knew about the natural area of Santa Fe Dam. She nodded emphatically, "You mean where the funny plants grow?" This area is full of surprises. Where else do you find junipers among the alluvial scrub, or valley cholla providing nesting places for the cactus wren? Where else do you find whipple yucca's leafy rosette taller than a person, or golden currant 8-feet-high, thriving among the cactus in sunny, dry, sandy places, not in oak understory or woodland. No other place in the Los Angeles basin offers such richness of sage scrub habitat and wide-open space. Come and see for yourself what a great opportunity this area provides to enjoy and observe wildlife and wilderness so close to home and your heart.

Swine Flu

2010-03-07T23:38:00.000-08:00

ShareThis

Funny - hehehehe

2010-03-07T07:37:00.000-08:00

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Gently down the stream.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, Life is but a dream. Nice boat, dude!

Funny Photos Taken At Unusual Angle

2010-03-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

The Sunset

Fan Art

Creative Perspective

More!

'Bachelor' Winner Vienna -- Beaver Shots Emerge

2010-03-06T07:30:00.002-08:00

It was only a matter of time before beaver shots of "Bachelor" winner Vienna Girardi came out ... we just weren't expecting them to be like this.

TMZ has obtained behind-the-scenes pics from Vienna's bikini-clad calendar photo shoot from '09.

We're told the calendar was made for clients of a Florida tree selling company ... hence the stuffed beaver that's featured in most of the photos.

McGowan vs. Smart: Who'd You Rather?

2010-03-06T07:30:00.001-08:00

With their red lipsticks in tow, Rose McGowan and Amy Smart both showed up to the same event in L.A. on Thursday.

Question is ...

Halle & Nahla -- Berry Pretty

2010-03-06T07:28:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, but there is someone who may actually be more beautiful than Halle Berry ... her baby girl Nahla.

The 43-year-old took her adorable bundle of joy to a park in L.A. on Friday.

Now that's what you call a gorgeous day.

Fun-Continuously

Upcoming Hollywood movies releasing in 2010

My Name Is Khan

Cast

[edit]India

[edit]Overseas

[edit]UK

[edit]Oceania

[edit]Middle East

[edit]USA & Canada

[edit]Other non-traditional Areas

[edit]Critical reception

[edit]India

[edit]USA

[edit]High profile screenings

Importance of fun even at work

Beautiful & Cute Birds

What a place to sit

Where the Funny Plants Grow?

Swine Flu

Funny - hehehehe

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Funny Photos Taken At Unusual Angle

The Sunset

Fan Art

Creative Perspective

More!

'Bachelor' Winner Vienna -- Beaver Shots Emerge

More Bachelor

McGowan vs. Smart: Who'd You Rather?

Halle & Nahla -- Berry Pretty