lazynerds

Movie Review: Captain Fantastic - 6/7

noreply@blogger.com (Dinesh) — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 01:19:00 +0000

What would it be like to raise children with complete isolation from modern day influences of technology, capitalism etc? What is it to live like hunter gatherers and be completely self reliant in this day and age? Will it be more meaningful? These are the themes upon which the movie Captain Fantastic builds on.

A father decides to raise his children in complete isolation from the society in the wilderness of the pacific northwest. The movie showcases the beauty of living in the forest, skills need to survive without support from society. An unfortunate circumstance leads the family to visit the normal society once. The movie explores the contrasting ways in which the family reacts to situations and how they finally stay together despite the odds.

This movie reminds me of little miss sunshine! but deals with a bit more heavy and idealistic situations. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this movie is directed by "Gavin Belson" (Played by Matt Ross) from the TV show Silicon Valley. Kudos to him for writing and directing such a thought provoking movie. I watched this movie while on a very long flight and it made the two hours pass very fast.

Skyfall - The best yet in the Daniel Craig Era - 6/7

noreply@blogger.com (Sashi) — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 08:50:00 +0000

The trailer of the latest James Bond movie showed Daniel Craig taking a dive from a moving train (hence the name Skyfall) after being shot at by one of his own and then resurrecting himself to save the day once again. So as long as we are talking about resurrection, let us see whether Skyfall has resurrected the famed 007 series in the Daniel Craig era after the not-so-spellbinding Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.

The movie starts off on the same lines as the trailer with a high-speed chase which involves cars, bikes, trains - the usual suspects. But then Bond is shot by his partner-in-mission (Naomi Harris) by mistake as she misses her target – a thief, all this in an attempt to retrieve a hard drive which contains all the identities of secret agents embedded in terrorist organisations.

But Bond comes back when he comes to know that MI6 is under attack and that M’s life is in danger. But Bond is not in his best shape, thanks to the near-death experience due to which everyone assumed he is dead. Finding out who is after M’s life and how a worn-out Bond snuffs out this threat forms the rest of the story.

Javier Bardem in Skyfall

James Bond movies typically involve high-tech gadgets, awe-inspiring cars and last but not the least sexy Bond girls. But Skyfall scores low on all these things. They are all there, but without the adjectives. Where Skyfall does score high is in the essence of the movie itself - the attention given to the story, the characters and most importantly the villain – all of them missing in the last two movies with the exception of the beautiful characterisation of Vesper in Casino Royale.

Daniel Craig can thank Javier Bardem for sharing the burden of carrying the movie because seriously, when I think of Quantum of Solace; the only face that comes to my mind is Daniel Craig’s. Bardem has absolutely nailed his character in the movie. Watch out for the scene where he seduces Daniel Craig and says ‘They haven’t taught you about this in training, did they?’

Coming to Daniel Craig himself, he has delivered a composed performance and after Skyfall, he can deservedly claim the mantle of 007 which many felt he could not after Pierce Brosnan. Judi Dench as M features much more prominently in Skyfall than the previous editions and the rapport between her and Daniel Craig is a delight to watch.

On the whole, Skyfall has a good story and has good performances to complement it with action sequences that may not give you an adrenaline rush, but will definitely keep you entertained. It may not be a must-watch, but it is definitely worth a watch.

Movie Review: Crazy Stupid Love (2011) - 5/7

noreply@blogger.com (Sashi) — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 09:24:00 +0000

The Expectations

It is somewhat a rarity for comedy movies to get a rating of 7 and above on IMDB. At least, that is what I have observed. So this movie turned my head with its 7.5 rating while promising to make me laugh.

The Story

Cal Weaver (Steve Carell) is shocked when his wife asks for a divorce and in the aftermath, he befriends Jacob (Ryan Gosling), who does a makeover on Cal to transform his married middle-age look to that of a sexy man-cougar.

Let me just say that there are intricate polygons of love in the movie from there on and anything more I say will only serve as a spoiler.

The Analysis

This movie delivers its fair share of laughs, especially in my favourite scene somewhere in the 2nd half of the movie when everything comes together (literally) along with a little twist in the story and chaos reigns. Prior to this point in the movie, you don't see where the movie is actually heading, but after this, you start smiling a lot more than you laugh and that is where you begin to understand what the movie is trying to convey - that love is crazy, love is stupid and you cannot rationalize it. Hence the title.

The message is simple and ironically, the director coveys it with a help of a complex set of relationships.

The performances of all actors are natural. Ryan Gosling steals the show in the first half and Steve Carell in the second. Emma Stone is a lively presence throughout the movie as is becoming her wont.

Watch out for the cheesy pick-up lines that Gosling uses to pick up women from the bar. There is a thing or two we can learn from them. :P

The Verdict

While it may not be a must-watch, it is certainly a pleasant one. :)

Movie Review: A Seperation (2011) - 6/7

noreply@blogger.com (Sashi) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 05:00:00 +0000

IMDB Rating: 8.6/10

Description: A married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.

This one was on my watchlist for a long time now, partly due to my reluctance to watch a movie in another language and partly because I thought the pace of the movie will be too damn slow.

But I finally manned up and decided to see for myself why this movie was rated so highly on my beloved IMDB.

The Story

Anything I say about the story will not exactly be a spoiler alert, but the strictly-spoiler-fearing people can skip a paragraph here because here is what the story is about. A married couple splits up because the hero wants to take care of his dad instead of leaving the country. As his wife leaves him, he hires a lady to take care of the dad and the lady screws up by almost killing his dad due to some negligence on her part. So, the hero gets pissed off and in an attempt to get the lady out of his house, he pushes her out the door. No big deal, only the lady is pregnant and consequently, suffers a miscarriage. The rest of the story is about how the lady's quest for justice affects the hero's family, all this attributed to the separation in the first place.

The Autopsy

Well, initially, as expected the movie starts off at maybe not a snail's pace but you feel that you have to wait for some time to know why the film was so well-appreciated. But it slowly revs up its engine and then starts to cruise along while managing to hold your attention with some subtle suspense and not-so-subtle emotions.

The movie also manages to give you a peek into the general lifestyle in Iran and as I had not watched many non-English movies, I was also mildly surprised at the strong religious beliefs expressed in it. Although it is an emotional drama, it never quite manages to take you to the realms of developing a lump in your throat right up until the climax.

What really impressed me the most about this movie is the wonderful way it was ended. All this time you are thinking whether the hero will be acquitted or not, but you realize that the movie is about something entirely different, something that you do not notice and the fact that you did not notice it makes it all the more touching.

Watch the movie, you will know what I mean. :)

The Verdict

I recommend that you watch it. With a little bit of patience. Just a little bit.

Super Sunday!!

noreply@blogger.com (Sashi) — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 10:16:00 +0000

Yesterday was one of those days when you wish you had a Video Recorder on your TV. Two big clashes in football, one F1 Grand Prix and a T20 match of India, all jam-packed into one evening!!

Most of them yielded results to my liking, with only Liverpool coming out as the major casualty. Mark Halsey, upon seeing the huge word of justice being held up in the stands at the start of the game, decided to whip out some of his own brand of justice and we all know what happend from there on.

Even with 10 men, Liverpool dominated the match for large periods, until Gerrard scored. Then they decided to soak up the pressure and defend their lead and that is when United's extra man advantage started showing.

Liverpool now find themselves in the relegation zone, with just 2 points from 5 games, somewhat similar to the position Arsenal was in the last season. But their next big fixture doesn't come until mid-November when they face Chelsea. So they will be hoping to start picking points from now on.

Moving on to Man City vs Arsenal, Arsenal took home a well-deserved draw. But it was slightly disappointing to see Gervinho back to his non-lethal best. He can take on any defender in the world, but it looks like he has no clue what to do after that. Otherwise, the game was a good one, with Mertasacker the standout player for me as he stretched his lanky frame and made several key interceptions to keep the odd City counter-attack at bay.

In other events, India crushed England comprehensively with Harbhajan Singh making an impressive comback (on a spinner-friendly pitch, mind you) and Rohith Sharma too grabbing the opportunity at last. As soon as Gautam Gambhir started to mount a decent score, my friend pointed out to me that someone else will also score well today so that the Man of the Match award can be given to not-Gautam-Gambhir!! :P

But it turned out someone else bowled well instead!

Money vs Arsene Wenger

noreply@blogger.com (Sashi) — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 07:30:00 +0000

First things first, we are going to witness a shifting trend in this blog from now on towards football, football, football, movies, movies, series and some random thoughts in that order. Because I don't think the other contributors of this blog can take me on when it comes to the amount of leisure time that I have now. So now I suddenly have so much time when the total no. of my posts in this blog is two?!! Long story short, I am out of college (read a year long project making a formula-style car, don't get me started on this, we will come to it in the future sometime).

So football eh? What do I know about it? I am no pundit, but I am one of those guys from the facebook memes who will marry a girl if she can name the starting XI of Barcelona! :P

So moving on, today is a big day, huh? Liverpool vs Man Utd. and Man City vs Arsenal. The former will be a sensitive one due to the Hillsborough issue and Fergie has gone to some length to ensure it will be played out respectfully. #RESPECT

So we shall also refrain from talking too much about that match.

Therefore, we will move on to the title of this post. This is not just another match for Arsene Wenger. He is essentially pitting his philosophies against his criticisms and if he wins this one, that will keep the mouths shut for some time to come. Although those mouths will be sewed shut only if Arsenal wins some trophies this season. So don't get carried away Arsene! :P

For Mancini though, it will be the usual pressure of a big game against a big club. If anything goes seriously wrong, he should just hire Yaya Toure as his body guard. Seriously though, how can somebody stop Yaya without getting road roller-ed?!!

If Diaby starts for Arsenal, for me, this is the single most important match-up today. Diaby vs Toure!! :D

In other news, Barcelona scraped through 2-0 against Granada after taking out the magnet from inside the ball that was causing it to repel from the goal posts. Messi had a torre(ndou)s match. But all is well as they got the 3 points, so over to you Madrid!!

I see this post is getting too long, there are hundreds of other sites to satisfy your hunger, this one is only to satisfy mine!! :P

My Prediction: Man City 1 -2 Arsenal

Yeah, I support Arsenal.

See you after the match.

Book Review : The White Tiger

noreply@blogger.com (naveen reddy) — Wed, 09 May 2012 07:22:00 +0000

Rating: 6/7
Author: Aravind Adiga

   This book is the debut novel of Aravind Adiga for which he won the Man Booker Prize in 2008. The book follows the life of the driver Balram Halwai from his beginnings in a village in Bihar, his experiences in Delhi while serving his master Ashok to his breakout from the rooster coop and forming a new life in Bangalore. The story is told from Balram's perspective in the form of a letter he writes for the Chinese Premier on the pretext of educating the Premier on entrepreneurship.
   The book is smart, witty and most of the time biting in it's portrayal of the people from the opposite extremities of the social class. Even though the book is written in a first person narrative as told by our hero Balram, you could see the authors presence while writing about the various injustices the 0.01% inflict on others. Through it's narrative, it feels like the book is not addressed to the average indian but to outsiders who have a very misconstrued perception that is projected outside our country or even to the upper elite who want to believe these lies. There are some very smart observations the author has made about the life of a poor rural villager and the forces which try to keep him in his place without any way of escape- the author uses the concept of a rooster coop to describe the prison that are born into to illustrate this.
   Even though words in the book drag the reality of the situation to the ground and shoves it in our face, I am partly skeptical to the overall realism of the story which the author narrates. There is an article which contests the reality that the author paints. Here's the article
http://www.hindu.com/lr/2008/11/02/stories/2008110250010100.htm .
   I would recommend this book to people who are dissatisfied with how our country presently is, the people who are lucky enough to be born into affluence and people whose drivers practice Yoga and anyone one who can enjoy harsh criticism at ones own country. This is not a game changer but it does make you see the people who service you in a new way. I would also like to say that no one book can contain the spirit of a billion people and anyone who claims so is lying. This book provides a much needed picture but not a full picture.
   If you have already read this book I would recommend a gem called The Guide by a little known author called R.K.Narayana which is a pure and bittersweet version of The White Tiger or you can go with Vikas Swarup's Six Suspects which has a murder mystery, non linear story line and deals with similar themes of The White Tiger but on a larger scale.

What to make of The Hunger Games

noreply@blogger.com (naveen reddy) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 14:34:00 +0000

The Hunger Games - Rating 6/7
   If anyone asked me what was the story of The Hunger Games my answer would have been "24 teenagers battling to death in a jungle until only one remains". After watching the film I think this answer is right and wrong at the same time. Right because this seems to grab the attention of your listener rather quickly and wrong because they don't start killing until the second half. Well, what happens in the first half then? The first half is about how and why these teenagers are chosen to kill each other and the circumstances surrounding about why and for what purpose these games are created.

   This movie talks about various points of views of this event as seen from the inhabitants of The Capitol where the hunger games are held, the tributes (teenagers) who are brought from 12 districts of Panem the country where the movie is set, previous winner of the hunger games who is assigned with the task of mentoring Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark of district 12 and more individual observations that seems to be mirror the class differences of our own present times.

   Fighting the critic in me: One year ago, I read Suzanne Collins book The Hunger Games and I have to concede that I was impressed by the book. The only thing which won my admiration was Collins narration of the story entirely from the first person view of Katniss Everdeen. And then I heard they were making a movie, which brought the critic out like a boss. Until the moment I walked into theater my boss ego kept going "They will screw up the movie big time. There is no way they can capture the book in the way it was written and this will be another franchise for the twilight bitches." Watching jennifer Lawrence bringing the character to life is the only reason I would be interested going again for seconds. The film was very faithful to it's book and didn't pull any punches.

   Fighting other movies: Another reason which my boss ego was vehemently betting against this movie was because of the overworked storyline which seems to be used more times than my friend saying "This is the last fag". The major contender is the Japanese film Battle Royale where the no of players is upped to 40. My only argument in defending THG is that while Battle Royale is more about group dynamics and keeping a birds eye view on the whole, THG invests screen time only on our protagonist. There have been others like The Condemned, The Death Race, Logans Run, Lord of the Flies which deal with similar story lines.

   Fighting the fans : For this I was thinking of an analogy...

    Building up the fanbase for THG must have been the same as campaigning for President of US. On the right we have all the dumb and stupid people a.k.a the twilight fans who could be persuaded with a simple "This is the new twilight(I refuse to use CAPS for twilight)". In the center we have the Independents like myself, who made curious with the trailer and the book to film period which was rather short. On the left are democrats who are proud fans of HP series reeling under the loss of beloved series with the promise of a bold new series tailor made for them. The campaign ignored the Tea party people generally meaning old people who were better put to use as a vessel for carrying the 13 year old's to the theater.

   Even though all the above bull shit doesn't amount to shit, this movie did what films were supposed to do - Forgetting everything outside the screen for two hours.

Arbit Awards 2012

noreply@blogger.com (naveen reddy) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:41:00 +0000

2011 is over and we have entered into 2012 with a host of award shows at our window, so I thought I'll make up my own awards. Here goes,

Best film in the category "Fuck the book, let's make a kick ass action movie" -
- Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows part2

Best film to show to your bible loving friend -
- Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

Best movie to show your kids to teach them to wash their hands after using bathroom -

- Contagion

Best Buddy Cop movie -

- Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows

Best film in the category "Sneeze and u confuse the whole fucking story" -

- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Best weird fighting technique -
- In Time

Best dance sequence in a film -
- Real Steel

Dumbest sequel of the year -
- Hangover 2

Best movie in the category "Let's make a animated film for children inspired from all the violent western films of the 60's and 70's which I used to watch as a kid" -
- Rango

Best movie which was marketed as science fiction but had nothing to do with it -
- The Adjustment Bureau

Best movie for being the only good court room drama in 2011 -
- The Lincoln Lawyer

Best movie for using as a prank -
- The Tree of Life

Best movie for testing your noise cancellation headphone on -
- Transformers 3

Best movie for having the most "wowww" moments -
     - Mission Impossible 4: Ghost protocol
     - Tintin : The Secret Of The Unicorn(seems that you really cannot compare two infinities. Until now I thought it was a conspiracy made up by all the mathematicians to get grants for inventing new numbers)

Best movies which were awesome just from the premise -
     - Limitless
     - Source Code

Best movie to watch when you are dating a Literature major -
- Midnight In paris

Best Psychotic movie -
     - I Saw The Devil (Seriously for the hardcore people. I am not kidding)

Best hand to hand fighting movie -
     - Warrior

Best comedy movies -
     - Crazy, Stupid, Love
     - Bad Teacher

Best movie to watch other than Bridesmaids -
- The Help

Best political drama -
- The Ides Of March

2nd Best Animation Movie -
- Rio (1st tintin ob)

Music Muzik 'Musing

noreply@blogger.com (naveen reddy) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:56:00 +0000

   Recently I began listening to UK top 40 singles album and found these 5 songs to be very interesting.

1. Labrinth - Earthquake ft. Tinie Tempah

   First up, my favourite song in the list is this song by Labrinth containing full bass, synthetic beeps and sounds and all that that shit. It's seriously good when listening at full blast on my ipod.

2. We Found Love - Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris (Boyce Avenue piano acoustic cover)

I heard the original and it was good, but this one takes the cake. His voice and the piano's a definite hit.

3. Videogames - Lana Del Rey

This song is very mesmerizing to from start to finish and Lana Del Ray captures everything.

4. Super Bass - Nicki Minaj

Very funky rap and a titillating background.

5. Loca People - Sak Noel

First time I'm hearing a song like this. It's wacky, beat busy, dead pan vocals. Addictive.

Movie Review: The Dirty Picture (2011) (Hindi) - 3/7

noreply@blogger.com (naveen reddy) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 07:57:00 +0000

Rating: 3/7

   This is not exactly a review per se since I haven't watched the whole movie. I came in 15 minutes late for the beggining and left 30 minutes early before the credits rolled in. Yes, I left the theater halfway into the second half and this is my second such incident.

   As for the movie, I hardly think this was based on Silk Smitha's life, and I feel like it's always a matter of coin toss on whether they are lying or not when the producers say it is not based on someone's life story.

   But credit has to be given for Vidya Balan for attempting to play a daring character the likes of which hasn't been done before in Bollywood and also for Naseeruddin Shah for giving a commendable performance as always. There is enough skin show, sexual innuendo's, mindless dialogues, one line punch lines etc for everyone to get through the film. If on the other hand if you were looking out for something deep like a psychological biopic of the persona of a dancer who raised eyes during a point of time when women in various fields were still looked down , then I would suggest you give it a miss.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) – 6.5/7

noreply@blogger.com (Sashi) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:01:00 +0000

When I first saw the trailer of this movie, I was mildly interested. Then the movie was released and it was met with good response. Since then, I have been waiting for a Blu-ray rip to watch the movie. I live in Pilani by the way (BITS-Pilani), so the wait for a Blu-ray rip instead of watching the movie in a theatre. Please, don’t get me started about the cons and cons of living in Pilani.

Anyway, coming to the movie, here is what IMDB says about it:

Rating: 7.8/10

Description: During experiments to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease, a genetically-enhanced chimpanzee uses its greater intelligence to lead other apes to freedom.

What IMDB doesn’t say is that the movie’s graphics are quite literally from another planet, on another level. Caesar’s (hero ape) emotions reach out to you and frighten you and also make you sympathize for him. One moment you want him as your pet, and the next you want to urge James Franco (the scientist who raises Caesar) to get rid of him when you see his menacing eyes as the years grow on him.

Fortunately, the movie doesn’t have any gory scenes of apes stamping and crushing humans to death. That is a big, big relief after watching a season of ‘Game of Thrones’.

It has not got full 7/7 rating only because of its predictability. There are no twists in the tale; you can easily expect what’s going to come next (apart from the apes’ movements while they attack of course). Download a Blu-ray rip like me, go full volume with a 2.1 like me, and just sit back and enjoy the movie like me.

VERDICT: Watch it with full volume. It might not be an edge-of-the-seat thriller, but the action and sound effects might tip you off your seat every now and then. And of course, the visual effects are simply superb.

Witness For The Prosecution (1957) – 7/7

noreply@blogger.com (Sashi) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 19:48:00 +0000

If you are wondering why this movie has been given full marks, then I have only one thing to say. Because it is damn good!! This is not a high school English or Hindi exam where you can never score full marks and also I am not someone who is a hard man to please or who looks at all the technical intricacies of a movie. In short, I am no Rajeev Masand, I am just a teen who loves watching a movie with a friend and a pack of chips.

Anyway, after coming out of three exams on a trot with one major casualty, I was sitting in my room, strangling IMDB so that it pukes out some above average movie that I haven’t seen. And puke it did, Witness For The Prosecution.

IMDB Description: Agatha Christie tale of a man on trial for murder: a trial featuring surprise after surprise.

And it is exactly that. I had heard about this novel vaguely and so I decided to watch it after convincing my “no-not-black-and-white” friend to bear with me just this once. Thankfully, he did not regret it.

There is subtle humor throughout with the promised twists and the usual trial in the court where all hope is lost for the defendant until our brilliant defense lawyer pulls one out of the bag. But, the story just doesn't end there (picture abhi baaki hain dost!!) and that is where the movie makes all the difference in the world.

The protagonist Charles Laughton, the defense lawyer, steals the show and I don’t really know all those actors, but I guess all of them did pretty well.

As I said already, I have given it full marks because frankly, I can’t see where the movie could have been better. I am a big fan of movies that involves trials and lawyers, a love that has started from A Few Good Men and I am glad to have found another movie to match it.

VERDICT: Must Watch!!!

Our New Rating System of 7

noreply@blogger.com (naveen reddy) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:36:00 +0000

The Magical Number Seven, Plus Or Minus Two: Some Limits On Our Capacity Of Processing information By George A. Miller(1956) http://cogprints.org/730/1/miller.html

A landmark paper in the field of cognitive science, George A.Miller studies the human body as a communication system with input as stimuli and output as responses for the stimuli while trying to the determine the channel capacity. This paper should be read by everyone who has taken a course in Information Theory as channel capacities of humans by absolute judgments of uni dimensional stimuli are plotted in a graph using simple and ingenious experiments on sound, taste, vision and touch. Similarly the span of immediate memory is studied using binary, decimal, alphanumeric and words by plotting their their ability to hold a number of bits and the process of recoding.

What does this have to do with the new rating of 7 in the blog? Nothing. There are many rating systems in the internet with some of the famous being that of imdb's scale of 10, metacritic and rotten tomato's scale of 100, critics rate of 5 or 4 or alphabetic scale. Well, anyone familiar with these systems of rating know well to spray an odour of skepticism for a movie with a rating of 8.3 or 92 and to give a fragrance of second chance for 6.8 or "racist insult to the audience".

I'm not saying this system of 7 will not have any problems but it feels good to me, so you are stuck with it.

6 Black and White movies I would say yes to in a heart-beat.

noreply@blogger.com (naveen reddy) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:17:00 +0000

I know that a lot of people have an unreal bias against old movies with reasons ranging from black and white is dull to they don't have giant robots banging their heads against each other. Well, some reasons which I can lend some neurons to are the apparent temporal shift in the folkways and morays of their cultural and social setting of the content which does not connect with the audience of our present epoch or 'no S**T is F***ING going on in the movie'.
Here are six movies which I have chosen to get you acquainted with the golden age of hollywood. The only thing which I had in mind while compiling this list is a) the easiness with which the viewer could connect with the story and it's characters b) entertainment value as dictated in our present form of mainstream movies (which ironically are the rules handed over by the very movies i am evaluating) c) timeless factor of the movie. The movies are chronologically arranged and is not representative of their relative merit.

1. City Lights (1931)
    Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Virginia cherrill ; Directed by: Charlie Chaplin ; Genre: Comedy, Romance

    Charlie Chaplin, the genius, the true artist, the laughter pill and I could go on and on. The story is simple, the tramp(immortalized by Chaplin) falls in love with a blind girl who sells flowers and helps her with her troubles. This is a silent movie with music, so sit back back and feast your eyes on the tramp. The ending scene where the tramp and the blind girl meet is one of the best scenes of all time.

    You can continue watching the tramp in Modern Times, The Kid, The Gold Rush and chaplin as dictator in The Great Dictator.

2. Rebecca (1940)
    Starring: Laurence Oliver, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders; Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock; Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance

   It is ironic that I should select Rebecca which is not a good representation to Hitchcock's body of work. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Daphne Du Maurier, this movie is one of my favourite psychological thriller. Anyone who has any misapprehensions over character depth driven by psychology in old movies will have mouth shut by this movie. For me, the twist - good, ending - even better.

   Following the footsteps of Rebecca are big foots such as Rear Window, Vertigo, North By Northwest, Notorious, Strangers On A Train, Dial M For Murder etc.

3. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
   Starring: HUMPHREY BOGART, Mary Astor; Directed by: John Huston; Mystery, Crime, Hard Boiled, Noir

   Humphrey Bogart, the guy who represents all the machoness in the world, the hardboiled cynic who doesn't fall for femme fatale, the guy who everyone who looks up to for finding their manliness. This movie also marks the directorial debut of John Huston who will go on to make some of the best movies cinema has known. Add to this potent combination, the novel written by Dashiell Hammett upon which the movie is made. This film serves as the best example of film noir genre and one of the greatest movies ever.

   Other film noir include The Big Sleep, Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, Ace In The Hole, The Third Man and more.

4. Casablanca (1942)
Starring: HUMPHREY BOGART, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid; Directed By: Michael Curtiz; Genre: Romance, Drama

Casablanca is the name of place in unoccupied Africa during the early days of Second World War which acts as a gateway for immigrants from Europe to the gates of America. In this setting is our hero Rick Blaine who owns a club and is one day visited by his former lover with an another man and requiring help which can only be provided by the hero.

You will also love The Apartment, The Philadelphia Story, Notorious, A Streetcar Named Desire etc.

5. Stalag 17 (1953)
Starring: William Holden, Don Taylor; Directed By: BILLY WILDER; Genre: Comedy, Drama, War

From one of my favourite directors, Billy Wilder presents Stalag 17 which is about a group of American airmen held in a Nazi prison camp who suspect one of their own(i.e the hero) to be an informer. William Holden plays a cynic who cares only for his own skin and the unknown traitor in the background who keeps us guessing until the end. Becoming a fan of Billy Wilder is a natural thing after watching this movie and William Holden got an Oscar for this film(which was already due in Sunset Boulevard).

Other movies include Some Like It Hot, Its a Wonderful Life, All About Eve etc

6. 12 Angry Men (1957)
    Starring: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb; Directed By: SIDNEY LUMET; Genre: Courtroom drama, suspense

    Passing my respects to Sidney Lumet who passed away earlier this year, 12 Angry Men was his first work for the film audience and who goes on to make Network, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon among others(watch them). This is only black and white movie in the top 10 of imdb's top 250 list. The entire movie takes place in single room with 12 guys just saying words. This is the best courtroom drama ever made and will stay there.

   Other movies include Paths Of Glory, Witness For The Prosecution, Anatomy Of A Murder, To Kill A Mockingbird.

Quick Book Reviews 2

noreply@blogger.com (naveen reddy) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:43:00 +0000

1. Percy Jackson & The Sea Of Monsters - Rick Riordian (2005-09) ; Fantasy adventure, mythology

                                The Titans Curse

                                The Battle Of The Labyrinth

                                The Last Olympian

   A series of five books with Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief leading the list is told by the protagonist Percy Jackson who is a demi-god meaning that he's the son of Greek god Posiedon and a mortal woman who is his mother. The book's main theme is reinventing greek mythology in the present modern setting of US. The books are laden with american teenage humour and appreciable action pieces. The books are a quick read which could work as a nice substitution for a no-good bollywood movie. Those people who are thorough in their mythology fundas or have passed the stage where going near the young adult section in a bookstore is beneath them will not regret in missing this book.

2. The Immortals Of Meluha (Book 1) - Amish Tripathi ; Historical fiction, action-adventure

   The book starts with our hero Shiva deciding to start a new life in a new place known as meluha for his group. There he drinks a potion called somras which makes his neck shine blue; therefore according to a prophecy he is proclaimed as the saviour of meluha and the destroyer of evil who have come to help help them, and the rest of the book deals with whether shiva accepts this responsibility and if so he is confronted with the nature of evil, and other such questions? A very interesting book from an indian author who succeeds in combining mythology and history to give a very enjoyable read. With action- good, language- simple & understandable for masses, dialogues - at times taking a philosophical tone in matters of good and evil. This book is wholesome fun and a great way to start historical fiction genre.

3. The Secret Of The Nagas (Book 2) - Amish Tripathi

    Picking up right where book 1 ended, The Secret Of The Nagas exceeds all expectations laid out by Immortals of Meluha. The book is high on somras and the twists will catch you off-guard if you aren't careful enough. The book ends with a i-knew-he-would-be-alive cliffhanger while leaving you gasping for more. Secret of the Nagas is faster, cleverer and much better than its predecessor with the signs pointing to a very satisfying finale for the fans.
It would not be prudent on my part to suggest buying this book without reading Immortals of Meluha first.

Quick Book Reviews

noreply@blogger.com (naveen reddy) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:11:00 +0000

FICTION

1. Only Time Will Tell (2011) - Jeffrey Archer:

   For anyone who has read at least one book by Jeffrey Archer - it's not too late, order this instant from flipkart, it's only Rs 200. This is the first of the five books known as clifton chronicles which as the name suggests follows the life of Harry Clifton from 1920 to science-knows-where. This particular book starts from 1920 in Britain after the First World War and ends in America during the start the Second World War with a not-so impressive cliff hanger.
   The best part for me in this book is the narrative style which is simply awesome. Jeffrey Archer serves you with a grand buffet of friendship, love, betrayal, sentiment, corny dialogues, gut wrenching scenes in a style which rightfully makes him the most favourite author in India.

2. 1984 (1949)- George Orwell

    If the whole universe cease to exist, I think truth and George Orwell's 1984 are the two things which will be left. I feel inadequate with my current vocabulary to write about this seminal work which is about a totalitarian and dystopian future. It's hard to think myself in the shoes of Winston Smith who is devoid of privacy, language, thought and free will. This is a book that should be read by everyone and is a timeless classic.

3. Animal Farm (1945) - George Orwell

   A novella of 112 pages, this a political satire on the events leading to the rise of Stalin. The story is set in an animal farm where the animals revolt against a brutal farmer only to face an even more tyrannical rule by a pig called Napolean. If you want to know how dictator get to do things and get away with them, this is the stuff. The book offers some valuable lessons in liberty and basic rights which denied leads only to one road.

FIFA 12 DEMO REVIEW

noreply@blogger.com (naveen reddy) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:07:00 +0000

   Starting with minor details: The demo version size is 1.5GB and quick to install, but the catch is that you have to remove the previous version(i.e FIFA 11) before you install{ or go to this link http://forum.ea.com/uk/posts/list/987075.page }. A 512MB graphic card should be sufficient. You can choose from amateur to legendary which is a relief. To change the key functions to your own taste, start an exhibition match; pause; go to settings; controller; press ctrl whose default key is LT and you are there.

   The preview window for game configuration is the same as FIFA 11 and initially needs a changing in aspect resolution. After you start the game, you get the customary sequence of language and EA sports. And the first awesome change is the start page where Rooney comes to kick the ball and stops, waiting for you to hit spacebar. When you tap it both the ball and logo fly towards you which would have been supercool in 3d.

   You come across a tutorial which tell how they have changed the defense and blah..blah.. which I gave a miss, but on hindsight I think it was pretty much a warning. You have only 6 teams to choose from i.e Barca, Mancity, BVB, OM, Arsenal and Milan. And Messi's rating is f***ing 95!!!(By this pattern it will be 100 next year).

   The biggest changes which immediately registers in your brain are defense and ball possession. The ball possession in this new version is simply awesome. You feel like you are controlling an actual player, who doesn't easily give the ball to your opponent and shows improved body technique in handling the ball while facing an opponent.

   The second change, defense. What EA did was that they ripped the defense mechanism in 11 and put a brand new one. The defending, which was one of the sweetest thing in 11, where you keep holding s during the whole game and let the guys do the work for you doesn't fly anymore. In this game you have to know when, where, how to press your defense button. Fast fingers and timing: that's the mantra. The ball dynamics has clearly changed and reflects more real world play.

   In the graphics department, they have a new game engine and the graphics are very good looking.The dynamic tele mode is much more smooth and subtle in moving. The audience response is much more in tune with the game and the commentary is good as usual.

   Can't wait for the full version and pity there will be no LAN play(damn you EA). AND ENJOY!

Book Review: The Emperor Of All Maladies

noreply@blogger.com (naveen reddy) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 10:32:00 +0000

NON-FICTION
1. The Emperor Of All Maladies: A Biography Of Cancer (2011) - Siddhartha Mukherjee

The caption of this book, "A Biography Of Cancer" is single dimensional to what the author presents to the reader in this book. In this magnificent study of a multifaceted disease known as cancer, the author takes us on a journey starting from 1600 B.C, where the earliest description of cancer is recorded on a papyrus to the present hospitals where the battle rages on day and night, harder than ever. This book is much and more about the people affected by the various aspects of this disease and their relationship to it.The author presents the story not as a professional trying to decode the problem but as a compassionate biographer trying to untangle the many faces of this disease and present it to us.

This book is fairly large with pages touching 600. I would strongly recommend this book to everyone and will make a valuable addition to your bookshelf. This is not a quick read and I would suggest to take in all the information the author offers at a pace suitable to you, and be armed with knowledge to take us one step closer in understanding cancer.

6 Movies to kickstart your KOREAN movie phase

noreply@blogger.com (naveen reddy) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 21:45:00 +0000

1. My Sassy Girl(2001)
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama
   If some willing enthusiast wanted to explore korean cinema, this may perhaps be the most recommended movie by any numerous number of sources.
   The movie has a long and meandering storyline, but is basically about a boy meeting a girl under unusual and hilarious circumstances and the events following more unusual and hilarious still.
   This is a very good gateway movie to understand korea's romcoms ,and the use of varied style and approach by their director.

2. A Moment To Remember(2004)
Genre: Romance, Drama
   This movie comes under romance territory with a theme of Alzheimer's disease, which brings countless suffering to the heroine and hero while trying to deeply care for each other.
   The on-screen chemistry between the actors is a delight to watch while their heart wrenching plight through the turmoils caused by Alzheimer's disease is equally painful to watch.
   The climax of the movie is emotionally charged one and is one for the ages.

3. Welcome To Dongmakgol(2005)
Genre: Comedy
According to wikipedia, "The story is set in Korea during the Korean War in 1950. Soldiers from both the North and South, as well as an American pilot, find themselves in a secluded village, its residents largely unaware of the outside world, including the war." What follows is a heart warming comedy where boundaries of enmity are broken , friendship and love found amongst the unlikely of people.
This is the type of heart warming and fuzzy movie filled with innocence to cheer you up during the bleakest of days.

4. Oldboy(2003)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Vengeance
Take heed, for this movie is not for the weak-hearted. I was toying whether to include Sex is Zero over Oldboy but winning the grand jury prize at cannes shifts the scale dramatically.
This is kind of movie which demands horror and awe for generations to come without breaking a sweat. This is the story of a man finding and extracting revenge for being imprisoned without any human contact for 15 years in a private cell, without knowing why or who did this.
If ever a movie truly deserved the title of mind f**k, this is it. And if thought Dark Knight was a dark movie, this is a black hole.

5. The Chaser(2008)
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Drama
The Chaser is an engaging serial killer movie with an upfront narrative with a lot secrets left to be unraveled with fast chases, realistic scenes and unnatural twists.
The direction rewrote all the rules in the book of crime thrillers to take us on a wild goose chase at the mercy of the clock. If you want a totally different narrative in a thriller, this is the movie to watch.

6. Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War(2004)
Genre: War, Action, Drama
This is an epic war movie encompassing two brothers through the korean war fighting for survival, love and hope. The movie clearly depicts the destruction and misery brought on by war on peoples livelihood, their loved ones and their happiness. This is a war movie on par with the best of hollywood in terms of its portrayal of war, music and acting.

noreply@blogger.com (naveen reddy) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 11:19:00 +0000

Community(2009-):
Genre: comedy
This series is basically about a study group of 7 people in a community college. The dialogues are smart, funny and there's no dearth of movie references. With a rating of 9 in imdb, this is a must watch for anyone seriously loving comedy.
People who enjoyed Modern Family, Arrested Development, Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia will have no problems watching this.

Alphas(2011-):
Genre: Science Fiction , Drama
To put into perspective, this is basically X-MEN meets CSI. The show is 4 episodes in and my favourite part about this show is that it takes itself very seriously and has huge potential for the future. Anybody looking for a seriously engaging drama can check this out.

Movie Review: Cowboys and Aliens

noreply@blogger.com (naveen reddy) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 07:13:00 +0000

Director: Jon Favreau
Stars: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde

From the outside the movie looks impressive, "cowboys" and "aliens" in the title, Old man Indiana Jones, James Bond and the girl from tron. But from inside its just pitiful.

What could have been a fun and suspenseful film turns into a boring, silly routine of drama followed by action followed by drama till infinity. The writing team could learn a thing or two from koreans about mixing genres because the elements of western and science fiction are seriously messed up.

This will be a big disappointment for Harrison Ford fans(me being one of them) to watch him clearly dominated by Daniel Craig and this movie is an insult to his charisma. On the other hand, fans of Daniel Craig get James Bond in every scene instead of a cowboy which he should be. Olivia Wilde adds less glamour and more head-ache.

The only highlight for me in this movie was listening to background of the prologue scene which was clearly a amazing blend of western and modern music.

5 Time Travel movies which are more than just going back in time

noreply@blogger.com (naveen reddy) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:42:00 +0000

I'm sure you have seen time travel movies where somebody goes back in time to change the future or stop something from happening , like The Terminator, Back to the Future, The Time Machine etc.
So I have compiled a list of movies that are more than are not just your average thriller or adventure. These movies have heavily interwoven plots where every scene is connected to every other scene in the movie, and which requires the complete attention of the viewer.

1. Time Crimes(2007)

   This movie is Time travel logic 101. This movie has the class time travel premise, A man going back 1 hour back into past has to face the consequences of his own actions. Sounds simple right, but when you actually watch the movie it doesn't look so simple. A very tight script, small cast, a BIG flowchart of logic and 90 minutes later, you my friend have the perfect time travel movie.
P.S: Please bear through the starting 5 minutes which is very boring and I promise that you won't regret it.

2. The Butterfly Effect(2004)
    This movie beautifully blends the two concepts of time travel and butterfly effect(where changing a particular event or choice of an action, can basically have enormous unforeseeable consequences, as it is popularly understood). If you strip the skin and bones of this movie, at it's heart it invariably contains a guy having the ability to travel back in time, trying time and again to protect his loved ones. With a background of emotional performance with fate catching the hero unawares at every turn makes this movie a engaging watch.

3. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time(2006)
   Well, look at that, we have an anime in our list. Following the lead of many famous anime movies where the central character is a adolescent girl, this movie revolves around a girl who finds an object which lets her leap back into time. This is a sweet and innocent take on the fun things which we would do if we can travel back in time. With beautifully crafted montage of school life in the first half, the second half follows into more serious matters concerning the device which lets her travel back in time, and her unresolved feelings for her friend. This movie tends to get confusing near the end and may require replay.

4. Deja Vu(2006)
   This is a typical Tony Scott movie, where the hero is working against the clock, hero is trying to save someone, cars exploding everywhere, dialogues coming out like bam-bam-bam against a backdrop of impressive effects and a dramatic score etc. The concept of going back in time creeps up quite suddenly during the movie and we to adjust our whole thinking accordingly. The reason I included this one is because this movie uses a plot device where the past is backtracked in the present and use of multiple points of view. If it is to entertain your entertain your brain in hyper activity mode, this is the place to start.

5. Mr.Nobdy(2009)
   You wont stumble across this movie in the internet unless you are actually searching for it, and this is not a time travel movie.This movie with the worlds oldest living man recounting his life to a reporter. The screenplay of the movie is very non-linear with very experimental storytelling and a lot of hidden meaning. My favourite part are the montages which speaks more than what they show. This is an experimental film and it doesn't please everyone. World cinema enthusiasts can appreciate this movie.

Special mentions: Run Lola Run, Source Code, Groundhog Day are not explicitly time travel but they are about time manipulation just the same. The plot device for these 3 movies resemble the same- relive a particular time interval to produce the most desirable outcome in 3, 10, >100 times respectively in the following movies. Run Lola Run is experimental, Source Code - thriller, Groundhog Day - comedy and each movie gives the atmost satisfaction to watch.

Primer is supposed to be most complex and confusing time travel movie of all and I will be watching it soon.

P.S: On hindsight, the ending of source code does resemble that of Deja Vu in it's logic.

Movie review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (naveen reddy) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 15:23:00 +0000

After a blitzkrieg of publicity and promotion, the last movie in the HP series is out with it's wands blazing. For Potter fans all over the world, this movie rewards their devotion and love of this series in manifold ways. The movie gives as much emotional punch as it's action, and weaves it's screenplay through a story of adventure, survival, friendship and hope.

For the people who have read the book, there are no big changes in the plot and stays true to the book. As for the rest of the muggels I would suggest you get your A's and B's of the last book right ,or a repeated viewing of part1 of HP7 might be necessary. To put it vaguely the movie revolves around finding four objects each containing a part of Voldermort's soul a.k.a horcruxes, and destroying them by our hero.

I specially recommend the viewers to watch this in IMAX 3D for it's jaw dropping visual effects and stunning depth provided by the extra dimension. This is my favourite 3D all this summer and the best in the series as well.

I have never felt so thrilling while watching the movie and the music could bring tears during the montage of Snape's flashback.

PS: A thrilling ride worth cherishing every moment of the movie.

Book review: Game of Thrones

noreply@blogger.com (naveen reddy) — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 15:47:00 +0000

Game of Thrones (Book one of A Song of Fire and Ice)
Written by George R.R. Martin

I came across Game of Thrones as the most anticipated TV show of this year. I watched the trailer and got to know it's based on some book. I watched the pilot episode for 10 and thought better to watch it later(The opening sequence was too awesome even for a movie). Well after 2 months I bought the book and it is the best fantasy book since LOTR and in a long time in the future.

The book is big, smart and has non linear, multiple sub-plots and each chapter told in third person of a certain character. If you want more specifics, follow this link to amazon and read the review of MISTER SJEM. He gives you the pros and cons on why you should read this book.

I cannot compare this book with Harry Potter or LOTR or Eragon. This book sets itself apart from the rest in terms of narrative structure, plot development and characters. The telling of the world and it's characters by the writer is vivid and does not give you a reason to skip it. One internal detail I should divulge is, this book has a lot of sexual content and will not be available in the young adult section of bookstores.

PS: This book is not just for fantasy lovers but anyone who loves engaging plot with a web of intricacies and a chapters told from the perspective of several small and big characters.

PPS: This is a 7-part series with 5 books available. I'm right now reading book 4 and of the impression that I don't need to review the rest in the series because whatever I write, it doesn't change your decision on buying the next book once you read this one. That answer will be yes and you'll be hungry for more.