Enjoy !!!

Nokia goes mystic - openatownrisk.com

2008-08-16T11:07:00.007+05:30

Nokia is up to something. Take a look at OpenAtOwnRisk (dot)com (flash required). It’s a willfully obscure viral site that you have to open by aligning some symbols in a combination lock (don’t worry, it’s not hard). Link on picture.

Once you get through the ’security’ you will see some nicely done clockwork imagery, hear creepy music and read some rambling tosh about a bunch of royal types creating a clip of ‘grande weirdness’ (hundreds of years ago, before the invention of, er, movie clips) that they have placed in a box with four seals.

Clues to help you unlock the box have been hidden in important historical artifacts like Edison’s Lightbulb, Apollo Eleven and, er, the Nokia Download Store.

All will be revealed next Monday and you can sign up for an email alert to notify you as soon as the seals are cracked open.

What could it be? The Nokia Tube, perhaps? Doesn’t seem ‘grande weird’ enough, though - unless we have been WAY wrong about what the Tube will involve.

Blog entry from a person who claim to have broken the seals to the box.

After a bit of mucking about with the content in “The Box” on Download! on my Nokia N95 and interacting with the proper version of openatownrisk(.)com, I was able to break all four seals on the game. Surprisingly, it didn’t take me long to do. The weird clip is truly weird, but it will take more than this clip to drive me insane

Theoretically, it says I won a limited edition T-shirt. Wonder if my status as a Nokia employee makes me ineligible. Certainly the shirt won’t fit me, thanks to my horizontal challenges, but maybe someone else will want it?

--------------------------------------->

Hey what are you waiting for! Lets crack the seal and get some goodies from Nokia!

The Incredible Hulk - Movie

2008-07-02T14:37:00.002+05:30

The first HULK movie effectively destroyed one of the greatest comic book characters ever created. It was an excellent visual example of how to take one of our favorite comic book characters and DESTROY it. So going into The Incredible Hulk which I constantly call HULK 2 I frankly had some concern. Edward Norton, Liv Tyler and writer Zak Penn but still.. I was worried. Well my friends after having just finished watching it I can say worry not. This movie is as Edward Norton has promised from the start. A movie for fans of the comics and action junkies alike. It is quite obvious that this movie ignores the first one completely. It starts out strong, rebuilds the entire story of how Banner became HULK and tosses you head long into the action.

Unlike the original HULK movie there is absolutely nothing nice about HULK. When hes green, hes mean and he kicks a whole lot of ass. He doesnt pussy foot around as a big green giant who is mean but really nice like the first movie. He kicks some serious ass and isnt out to 'bruise' you and run away. He maims, kills and destroys all those who stand between him and his freedom. Its bloody, all be it PG13 and its EXACTLY how the HULK should be done.

Although its action packed, the acting and the story telling are top notch. Although not quite on par with The Dark Knight which is still one of my top comic book movies The Incredible Hulk is night and day better then the first. Gone is the lame writing of the first film and the wierd comic book panels that irritated the shit out of comic book fans. In its place is some of the best looking CGI ever, a story that is compelling and characters you can believe in. Edward Norton although he did no get a writing credit deserves mad props for working with Zak Penn to write one of the best comic book movies we have seen in awhile.

The movie is ass kicking good fun and Tim Roth delivers along side Edward Norton bringing one of the most explosive and over the top action movies of the year. The big question I left the movie wondering was... who is Mr Blue? I was completely and utterly stumped by who this character is. Without spoiling the movie he has a key part in the movie and although I was convinced till I saw him that he was Captain America, hes not. Who is he? I have no clue!

Without question if you are a fan boy you need to see HULK. There are lots of little snippets in the movie including talk of the Super Soldier program, of course Captain America and a great cameo by Iron Man. HULK is well written, well shot, has top notch acting and is well worth the price of admission. Go see it! You might finally get the tainty taste of the first one out of your mouth.

Reviewed : Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

2008-06-02T07:42:00.006+05:30

In his latest book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, Jeff Kinney nearly put me into the hospital. That man is going to have serious medical bills to pay if this keeps up. I almost busted a gut laughing out loud and almost aspirated my Diet Dr Pepper on a few occasions. And, yes, I hold him completely responsible.

If not for Kinney’s dry wit, keen insight into the lives of elementary school boys (especially their rationalization for EVERYTHING), and fantastic line drawing on nearly every page, I wouldn’t have had so many close brushes with death in his latest book. But he put me there time and time again. Even when I thought I had things figured out (because I was once an elementary school boy with a wild imagination without a governor), Jeff would throw a wrinkle at me that I didn’t see coming. He ambushed me with regularity throughout the pages.

But it’s not just me that Jeff has his merciless sights on. He’s taking out EVERYBODY. My wife teaches elementary school and Jeff’s books are all the rage among the students. I have to admit to adding to that bonfire because I talk about his books all the time (and I have to admit that I haven’t quite become the responsible adult either, because I’ll rile my wife’s fourth grade class up and take my leave — taking her out to dinner usually gets me off the hook and my cool points go up with the kids).

Parents have become interested in the books and I’ve told them they need to keep up with what their kids are reading. After all, they’re supposed to be responsible parents. (I, myself, have been known to buy extra copies of Jeff’s books and give out as gifts – some parents have accused me of inciting subversion, but I point out that Jeff’s first book was a New York Times bestseller and that is a far better recommendation than I could ever make. Except the Times doesn’t give away Jeff’s books as gifts that I know of. That’s why they hold me more accountable.)

But when I recommend the books to parents, I issue a stern warning. I call it the PYP warning. I especially give it to pregnant mothers and people with weak bladders who read in public places. PYP is Pee Your Pants. The books are just that funny. You’re reading along, and the next thing you know, WHAM! — you’re laughing so hard you’re peeing your pants.

The funniest thing about Jeff’s humor, and the life of his main character, Greg Heffley, is that everything in the book COULD BE COMPLETELY TRUE. Speaking from experience, a lot of what’s between those pages has been true. But I’m not going to incriminate myself now when I got away with those things all those years ago. And there should be some kind of time statute on most of them. I still don’t want my mom to know, however.

Greg is THE man when it comes to taking a boring day and turning it upside down. People who underestimate the creativity of a bored child are simply asking for trouble. Nuclear war pales by comparison.

And Greg has an excuse – or a rationalization – for everything he does. Worse than that, half the time I get sucked in and totally buy into his point of view. Because, upon occasion, that point of view has been mine as well (or at least my defense). That’s where Jeff’s magic truly lies: he’s never lost touch with his inner child. And boy, his wife must be mad and his kids must be terrified!

In this second book, I was totally blown away yet again. Greg is a middle kid, which means that his life is made miserable from both ends of the spectrum – from his older brother Rodrick and his younger brother Manny. Rodrick is the sulky teen with a band called Loded Diper. And their music stinks, so they’re appropriately named. Manny is three and gets into all of Greg’s stuff.

I love how Jeff sets something up in the books and continues to play off of it at appropriate times. His sense of pacing is fantastic. The work of “art” Manny creates out of toothpicks and aluminum foil is great, and I’ve seen that done, actually. Greg’s mom tells Greg he should keep it around and he does – until it impales Greg’s semi-best friend Rowley.

Another sequence in the book focuses on Greg’s ringleader abilities. Kids will follow anyone with a semi-great idea. Or at least one that will bring pain or embarrassment to another kid. See, Greg is NOT hero material. At least, not yet. He does show some potential, but it’s really far into the future.

One of those ideas involved making believe one of the other kids didn’t exist. Following Greg’s lead, the rest of the class pretends the kid doesn’t exist so much that Greg gets called into the principal’s office, then gets read the riot act by his parents.

I loved when Greg gets involved in the role-playing game Magic and Monsters and his mom becomes concerned. She decides to show up and play with them. And her rules don’t involve all the violence and bloodshed all the kids are used to enjoying. Worst of all, some of Greg’s friends start liking the way his mom plays!

Another instance is when the parents leave for a weekend trip and put Rodrick in charge. They’re no sooner gone than Rodrick is on the phone calling people over for a party. Madness ensues. A door gets painted with permanent marker. Rodrick gets Greg to help him change out doors so the parents don’t find out. Later, when they’re punished, Rodrick says he’s going to study the effects of decompression of the spine suffered by astronauts during prolonged weightlessness. He does this by sacking out on the couch and sleeping all the time while he’s grounded.

If you want, you can even read the books for free on the internet. Just go to Funbrain-dot-com to read them. One of the most interesting things about Jeff’s books is that they’re given away for free and STILL sold enough to make it to the top of the New York Times bestseller list.

You see, Jeff wants everyone to read his books that wants to. However, kids want books they can hold in their hands, share with friends, and put on a shelf. Plus, it’s kind of hard to take your computer and internet along when you’re stuck in the car on a family trip or out with a parent at a doctor’s appointment or a shopping spree.

One of the best features about Jeff’s books after you put them in your kids’ hands is that you don’t have to worry about batteries going dead. They’re kid powered: fueled by imagination and driven by humor. They’re good for the environment. Except for that whole PYP warning.

Jeff’s books are hilarious. I just can’t recommend them enough. Call me subversive if you want.

27 Dresses - The Movie Review

2008-05-31T06:14:00.004+05:30

She's always a bridesmaid and never a bride, dreaming of finding a guy to sweep her off her feet and give her the storybook romance she's longed for most of her life. He's a cynic, announcing he doesn't believe in love but secretly hiding a deep-seated optimism that true love is out there somewhere. Can they get past their external differences and discover they're meant to be together? Every bit of 27 Dresses is formula, from the characters and their arcs to the plot that brings in complications up until its final act where everyone lives happily ever after.

It's as predictable as the answer to that question, and yet, I'm recommending it. The reason is simple: The cast makes it work. There's no way to be surprised by what happens in the film or even how it all happens, but what is surprising is the level of ease with which these actors manage to help us forget for a large chunk of the movie's running time that they are playing basic character types, set up solely as tools of a formula script. That the script doesn't overdo the complications helps, too, and it somehow works.

Ever since attending her first wedding at the age of eight where she helped the bride fix a torn dress, Jane (Katherine Heigl) has known that helping people at their weddings is what she wants to do, and all the while, she "couldn't wait for [her] own special day." Now in her late twenties, Jane is still helping friends and family with their weddings, up to attending two weddings as a bridesmaid in one night. While partying at one of those weddings, Kevin (James Marsden), a wedding writer for a New York newspaper, notices Jane occasionally ducking out, and when Jane is knocked down and out in the scuffle for the bouquet, he helps her out.

While sharing a cab, he discovers her two-wedding shuffle, and they learn they are polar opposites when it comes to their feelings on love and marriage. Jane accidentally leaves her schedule in the taxi, and Kevin, being the nosy reporter he is, takes a gander through it, finding out she has a string of weddings she's attended. At work, Jane has a major crush on her boss George (Edward Burns) but hasn't said anything to him. After all, she is his assistant.

To complicate matters for our already lonely heroine, Jane's sister Tess (Malin Akerman) arrives in town and starts a whirlwind romance with George under false pretenses based on information Jane gave her baby sister about her crush. Meanwhile, Kevin sees Jane as the potential subject for a legitimate story�a piece that could jump-start his career. There's nothing new to this story, but screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna does take enough time setting up Jane's perpetual romantic misery, her willingness to do anything for a friend (let alone a sister), and her hope for a love to call her own to make her a sympathetic character.

Katherine Heigl is endearing in the role, and while every move of her character's arc is based on the necessities and complications of the plot, she manages to make us care enough about Jane to ignore it. Take the scene in which she watches as Tess and George start their relationship. She's just gotten up the courage to talk to him at a club (after thinking he sent her flowers), and as she approaches, she watches in devastated acceptance as Tess and George meet (after which she learns it was the dry cleaning bill he left on Jane's desk).

Heigl is solid here, but so is James Marsden as the determined but charming Kevin, who, of course, has a secret to hide about his romantic history to explain his misogamy. Malin Akerman is cute, difficult, and then surprisingly vulnerable as Tess has to live up to her sister's example only to find herself falling incredibly short, and Edward Burns is confident without being cocky. Even Judy Greer manages to pull off what is the most obvious formula character�that of the heroine's snarky, sex-loving friend. A story like this is usually full of complications up until the ultimate get-together of the leads, but McKenna's script is thankfully underwritten, allowing the initial obstacles to serve as the basis for Jane's own personal troubles.

The article that Kevin is writing hangs over the script as a potential, forced relationship-destroyer, and while the film's final act certainly follows through on that promise for a clich�d and strained footfall in Jane and Kevin's relationship, beforehand, we get an enjoyable scene of the two drunkenly trying to figure out the lyrics to "Bennie and the Jets" ("She's got electric boobs?"). Kevin also helps Jane grow a spine, and after everything hits the fan, she might have grown too much of one.

The movie is an undemanding romantic comedy, and I am not suggesting it's anything more or less than that. I wasn't bothered by its over-reliance on formula until after it was over, and the actors make the transparent examples forgivable. 27 Dresses does what it needs to do and is enjoyable in the process; there's not much else for which to ask.

Stupidest things to do!!!

2008-05-29T04:34:00.003+05:30

As you probably already know, the Darwin awards are awarded annually

for the most extreme act of (occasionally terminal) stupidity - these
were for 2003.

RUNNER-UP The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat
cutting machine and, after a little hopping around, submitted a claim
to his insurance company. The company, suspecting negligence, sent out
one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine out
and lost a finger. The chef's claim was approved.

RUNNER-UP A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for
his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find
a woman had taken the space for her car. Understandably, he shot her.

RUNNER-UP After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean
bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be
transporting from Harare to Beltway had escaped. Not wanting to admit
his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered
everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers
to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very
excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn't
discovered for 3 days.

RUNNER-UP An American teenager was in the hospital yesterday
recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train.
When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he
was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving
train before he was hit.

RUNNER-UP A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on
the counter, and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash
drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the
register, which he clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from
the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total
amount of cash he got from the drawer? $15. (If someone points a gun
at you and gives you money, was a crime committed?)

RUNNER-UP Seems this Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly. He
decided that he'd just throw a cinder block through a liquor store
window, grab some booze, and run. So he lifted the cinder block and
heaved it over his head at the window. The cinder block bounced back
and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious.
Seems the liquor store window was made of Plexiglas. The whole event
was caught on videotape.

RUNNER-UP As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store; a
man grabbed her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately, and
the woman was able to give them a detailed description of the
snatcher. Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They
put him in the car and drove back to the store. The thief was then
taken out of the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To
which he replied, "Yes, officer, that's her. That's the lady I stole
the purse from."

RUNNER-UP The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked
into a Burger King in Ypsilanti, Michigan, at 5 a.m., flashed a gun,
and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he
couldn't open the cash register without a food order. When the man
ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for
breakfast. The man, frustrated, walked away.

RUNNER-UP Kentucky Two men tried to pull the front off a cash machine
by running a chain from the machine to the bumper of their pickup
truck. Instead of pulling the front panel off the machine, though,
they pulled the bumper off their truck. Scared, they left the scene
and drove home. With the chain still attached to the machine. With
their bumper still attached to the chain. With their vehicle's license
plate still attached to the bumper. They were quickly arrested.

DARWIN WINNER, 2003. When his .38-caliber Revolver failed to fire at
his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach, California,
would-be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire
wonder: He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This
time it worked.

Wall E - The Movie

2008-05-27T04:46:00.000+05:30

What if mankind had to leave Earth, and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off? After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, WALL*E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new purpose in life (besides collecting knick-knacks) when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL*E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet's future, and races back to space to report her findings to the humans (who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home). Meanwhile, WALL*E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets an adventure into motion. Joining WALL*E on his journey across the universe is a cast of characters including a pet cockroach and a heroic team of malfunctioning misfit robots.

The Ad of the year ;-)

2008-05-20T06:59:00.003+05:30

Hi there, Fun blog is now taken over by Neowebarts. We are giving a new life to your favourite fun blog. Make sure that you subscribe for our feed via mail so that you don't miss out the fun.

This is a picture i came across yesterday. I felt it quite interesting. So do you think apple is now strong enough to keep away Microsoft? Share your views as comments.

Isn't it cool? I don't think its an official Ad but it is worth a laugh.

Harry Potter, Bond, Narnia;Top Our Most-Anticipated Sequels:08 Movie Preview

2008-01-08T19:14:00.001+05:30

If you've been having that weird feeling of déjà vu lately, it's not because you're trapped in the Matrix. John Rambo is once again at war, James Bond is back in the tux, and Harold and Kumar are about to indulge in some secondhand smoke. Welcome to 2008, folks, where even Mulder and Scully are returning to a megaplex near you.
With that in mind, here's a list of the top 10 sequels (not including Indy and Batman — check back for those Thursday, when we unveil our list of 2008's most-anticipated movies) that already have us smelling the popcorn.

10. "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" (August 8)To speak in a vernacular easily understood by the film's target audience: First I was like, "Huh?" Then I was like, "Why?" Then I thought, "OMG, Ugly Betty is a big star now, so maybe it'll be better and make me LOL!" Then I realized I'd better stop drinking the Haterade, get jiggy with a sequel storyline that reunites Amber Tamblyn, America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel and Blake Lively (a BFF ever since "Gossip Girl"!), and get excited about the sequel. Because one thing's for sure: These pants ain't slowing down.

9. "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" (August 1)After two movies, a spinoff, a seven-year sabbatical and the exodus of Rachel Weisz, some fans will undoubtedly claim that the only thing "Dragon" is the Mummy series itself. But Brendan Fraser is back to play the most beloved treasure hunter not named Indiana Jones or Ben Gates, and high-adrenaline filmmaker Rob Cohen is onboard to make sure the film is both fast and furious. On top of that, Jet Li is joining the cast and apparently promising for the 10th time that we'll be watching his last action film. Aside from the swirling sand and the Rock's face on a CGI scorpion, the most memorable thing about the old movies was people constantly underestimating their box-office clout; we won't make the same mistake this time.

8. "Saw V" (October 24)Look around this site — or anywhere else on the Internet, for that matter — and you'll see that few critics have spewed as many words in defense of this series as yours truly. But frankly, after "Saw IV," I'm ready to throw in my bloody towel. If it's Halloween, it must be "Saw" — and if it's 2008, it must be the next far-fetched attempt to keep Tobin Bell in the picture even though he died two movies ago. Without the veteran actor as Jigsaw, the series would undoubtedly die a more painful death than Cary Elwes; with him, the masochistic coincidence-dependent machinations make you long for the relative plausibility of "Alvin and the Chipmunks." Nevertheless, there's still no horror series I'd rather peek at through my clenched fingers.

7. "Rambo" (January 25)This is the only sequel on this list that I've already seen, and I can definitely make one safe statement: "Rambo" is to John Rambo what "Rocky Balboa" was to ... Rocky Balboa. (Note to Sly: Get more creative with these sequel names!) In the '80s, people would get stabbed; now they're sliced in half. Previously, the crazed Vietnam vet would strangle somebody to death; now he rips out the guy's Adam's apple with his bare hands. The script, which catches up with Stallone's iconic character as he shuttles aid workers into Burma, won't be confused with "Citizen Kane" anytime soon. Nevertheless, if you're still aboard the Rambo train after 26 years of bloodshed and bad puns, you'll find it a worthy final act for one of Hollywood's all-time greatest heroes.

6. "The X-Files 2" (July 25)One peek at the IMDb message-board thread titled "Who here's got a pet with an 'X-Files' related name?" and you know these folks are as hard-core as fans get. Still, the tagline for Mulder and Scully's first big-screen adventure could have been "Fight the Fans" instead of "Fight the Future," judging by the mediocre reviews and tepid box-office sales for a plot that too-often pandered to the uninitiated. Now, a decade later, the supernatural sleuths return to navigate a complicated, stand-alone story — as well as their even more complicated relationship. While the storyline remains as top secret as Area 51, this much is certain: I'll be at the theater on opening day, and I'll be sneaking in my adorable dog, the Well-Manicured Man.

5. "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" (July 11)When we visited this sequel's enormous Hungarian set, it looked hotter than an angry Liz Sherman. The recently released first trailer promises vast improvements over the series' 2004 film, as does the newly earned independence of "Pan's Labyrinth" director Guillermo del Toro. This time around, the world's greatest paranormal investigator (a returning Ron Perlman) finds himself facing an army of increasingly elaborate monsters (oh, how I wish I could tell you more). And if you thought the Pale Man from "Pan's" gave you sleepless nights, wait till you get a peek at Doug Jones as the Angel of Death.

4. "Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay" (April 25)H&K's trip to White Castle may have sold fewer tickets than O.J. Simpson at a kissing booth, but it turned out to be one of the funniest flicks of this decade. Now John Cho and Kal Penn are promising a worthy sequel — then again, a year ago Penn was saying the same thing about "Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj." The bottom line? If "Guantanamo" is half as hilarious as its predecessor, it could be the funniest movie of 2008. And with a timely plot that has our favorite stoners sent to the notoriously unfriendly holding facility — only to escape and smoke the proverbial peace pipe with George W. Bush himself — the movie might be good enough to make us quote their buddy Goldstein's review of a Katie Holmes nude scene: "You know the Holocaust? Well, picture the opposite of that!"

3. "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" (May 16)Rather than a weapons-wielding Santa Claus, we're getting a heartthrob with a sword. Instead of James McAvoy as a half-goat, we'll be seeing Peter Dinklage as rebellious wee man Trumpkin (we can only assume the Donald has already contacted Dunkin' Donuts about donut-hole product tie-ins). And instead of a snow-filled wonderland, Narnia is now a ruins-filled realm of fantasy. Quite a bit will be different when we return to Narnia 1,300 years later, but at least we'll still be accompanied by some familiar faces: The precocious Pevensie kids, ass-kicking Aslan and even the White Witch appear in the impressive new trailer. "Caspian" looks yummier than a batch of Turkish delights.

2. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (November 21)Harry's going to kiss Ginny! Ron's going to get an intimate whiff of Lavender Brown! Somebody really, really important will die! Although loyalists already know the major "Prince" plot points, all eyes are on director David Yates as he attempts to bring them to life while matching the book's emotional impact. Last year's "Order of the Phoenix" gave us darker imagery and dramatically heftier acting from the leads. Now, with the magical series winding down, could "Prince" be the film that finally stirs up Oscar buzz for Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and/or Emma Watson? With enormous sets like the underground cave that houses one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, and new characters that include Jim Broadbent's enigmatic potion master, Horace Slughorn, Yates certainly has his work cut out for him. If only there were a spell that could transport us to November.

1. "Bond 22" (November 7)One fact we can conclusively report about this November release is that it won't be called "Bond 22" (heck, most sequels don't even put "2" or "3" in their titles anymore). Another is that Daniel Craig will return as the manlier, deadlier, more Bourne-like superspy for a second adventure, which kicks off immediately after the "Casino Royale" takedown of Mr. White. Principal photography on the first-ever direct sequel to another Bond film begins this month, with slick "Kite Runner" director Marc Forster taking the wheel of filmdom's most durable franchise. Now that he's earned his "007" license, we fully expect Bond's follow-up flick to make a killing.

Santa vs Snowman

2007-12-30T15:39:00.000+05:30

The big picture opens with an icicle-sparkling trolling camera sequence of lush red warm Santa's village, elves busy at work on the toys, dancing and happy, praising Santa, "I love you more than my own head," "I love you more than track lighting." This sequence brings back memories of childhood holiday specials then enlarges them into a 3D world that you could almost step into. And the fresh silly humor brings yet another rich dimension to the experience.Then we're introduced to the lonely snowman who has no friends and therefore can't even speak. He just plays his flute, until, oops, he drops it and decides to replace it with one from the nearby elf toy factory. This immediately prompts a breach in Santa security and initiates a winter wonderland war at times (intentionally) mocking the likes of "Star Wars." Well, I don't know about you (so write in and tell me), but I don't like my holiday specials to look like my everyday meat and potato films. If this picture had made a conscious decision to be irreverent, in the manner of "South Park," then that's one thing; but, instead, "Santa vs. the Snowman" seems to be a family friendly traditional holiday special that dabbles in the irreverent. On a completely subjective level, frankly, I don't think that works very well. Christmas films should be Christmassy - not "Star Warsy." And especially in these political times, do we really want to be reminded of anything military?That said, and despite lacking any truly breath-taking 3-D imagery, the film still looks good and has a good sense of humor. Snowman disguises himself using only a set of Groucho Marx nose/glasses and enjoys a tour of SantaLand guided by the drably comical voice of Ben Stein. This is a very funny sequence.While you might be turned off by the mistletoe missiles, you'll probably appreciate the ultimate resolution message: "Love your Enemies." You've just got to ask yourself one question, "Am I okay with Santa as Commander in Chief?"

Frost Bite

2007-10-12T08:16:00.001+05:30

Frost Bite

Climb to the top of the mountains and raise the victory flag!

Play now!!

The Game Plan

2007-09-14T08:48:00.000+05:30

Story:
THE GAME PLAN tells the story of rugged superstar quarterback Joe Kingman (DWAYNE THE ROCK JOHNSON), whose Boston-based team is chasing a championship. A serial bachelor, Kingman is living the ultimate fantasy: hes rich, famous and the life of the party. But this dream is suddenly sacked for a loss when he discovers the 7-year-old daughter (newcomer MADISON PETTIS) he never knew he had the product of a last fling before parting years ago with his young wife. Now, during the most important time in his career, he must figure out how to juggle his parties, practices and dates with the newfound ballet classes, bedtime stories and dolls that come with his daughter. Equally perplexed is his hard-edged mega-agent, Stella (KYRA SEDGWICK), herself without a parental bone in her body. Despite the often hilarious misadventures that come with being a new father, Joe discovers thats theres more to life than money, endorsements and thousands of adoring fans: the love and care of one very special small fan is the only thing that matters. - Walt Disney Pictures

More info can be found at:
disney.go.com/disneypictures/gameplan/

Hum Tum Comic Strip

2007-08-05T13:19:00.000+05:30

Puzzle

2007-08-04T19:41:00.000+05:30

Game Review : Combat Mission - Shock Force

2007-08-03T07:31:00.000+05:30

Combat Mission, titles which are known for their line of top WWII strategy games, has not only produced a title with a new engine, but has turned the clock forward into modern-day warfare. The story takes place in the winter of 2008 where terrorists from all nationalities started making their move into different countries well before any talk of heightened security. Once they were in place they kept quiet and waited for their call. Soon tips were pouring in about suspect baggage and before long there were terror alerts. Now, with the sleeper cells already in place, security was nearly pointless.

You will be able to fight with tons of units comprised of machine guns, anti-tank personnel, mortars, tanks and other vehicles. You will also have the ability to call in valuable air strikes to soften up targets. The damage modeling is where the game really excels. Units can take different damage depending on where they are hit, which adversely effects what the unit will be able to do. For example, if a tank track gets damaged that unit will have a tough time moving around the battlefield.

Battlefields are mostly desert landscapes dotted with vegetation and structures. These, too, will affect line-of-sight and other target-finding abilities. In short, there are a lot of factors that determine outcomes on the battlefield. This is not a free-for-all where the most tanks win. Strategy fans will surely appreciate this attention to detail.

My personal favorite feature was the ability to play as a turn-based or real-time game. This made learning a difficult game a bit easier. A tutorial is much needed for new fans. Veterans will surely pick this up in no time despite some new changes. Visually the game looked damn fine for this style of game. Games of this genre usually lack the eye candy most titles require to sell copies. Strategy games have usually fallen short here, but I am happy to report that this game looks good. The sound effects, however, could use a little work but were realistic enough to immerse you in the game. I liked the voiceovers and the music.

Regardless of story and setting this is still a typical warfare strategy title. Sure it has its differences but we have seen many games like this before. It’s a blast to play and there is a ton of different attributes that will keep any strategy buff happy. I would have liked to have seen a better Multiplayer option than what is found in the current release. I said it before, multiplay is the life and death of a game … literally.

Gameplay: 7.0
I found that actually playing the game was a bit tough at first. Sure it gets easier but a tutorial sure would have been a nice plus. There is a ton of options that can be overwhelming, but gets easier with time.

Graphics: 8.0
For this type of genre the graphics looked great. It is no FPS game, by any means, in terms of jaw dropping graphics, but games like these usually look pretty dull. When you zoom in on the battlefield, you can see a ton of detail.

Sound: 8.0
Sound effects were hit and miss but the voices and musical score were as great.

Difficulty: Hard
This one is tough.

Concept: 7.0
Nothing really new here. Yes, it may be a change from a company that usually produces WWII games, but I’ve seen plenty of modern warfare games where terrorists are the main enemy. I did like the ability to either play turn-based or real-time

Multiplayer: N/A
More than two-player capability is talked about for future modules but currently only email turn-based play is available at time of review.

Overall: 8.0
Hardcore strategy fans will surely love this new title. Map creating abilities will add shelf life.

Movie Review : The Simpsons

2007-08-02T07:28:00.000+05:30

Homer Simpson, the oafish paterfamilias of America’s favourite dysfunctional family, emerges from his big-screen debut a bona fide Hollywood action hero.

At the start of The Simpsons Movie Homer’s dreams of glory are limited to helping his new pet pig to walk upside down on the ceiling while singing “Spiderpig, Spiderpig” to the Spider-Man theme song.But when the adopted swine gets him into bigger trouble than even this celebrated screw-up has ever experienced before, he falls under the influence of a chesty Native American woman he calls “Boob Lady” and undergoes an uncharacteristic epiphany that galvanizes him into action for the good of his by-now estranged clan.

By the time the witty final credits roll, Homer outshines even Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has been elected president and ordered great harm done to Homer’s home town.

The Hollywood action theme helps the hit cartoon series, after 18 seasons on television, to land its death-defying leap to the big screen with panache. The result is a postmodern parable about an environmental scare that is at the same time hilarious and horrifyingly poignant. But thanks to an unexpected glimpse of Bart’s genitalia, this is a postmodern parable with a “pickle shot”.

The film boasts the same sly cultural references and flashes of brilliance that have earned the television series a following that ranges from tots to comparative literature PhDs. Despite its clownishness and childish graphics, it still offers searing insights into the pathetic human condition.

When the residents of Springfield learn that they are confronting catastrophe, for instance, the panicked occupants of the bar and the next-door church pour out into the street and change places — the drinkers taking solace in religion and the religious finding comfort in drink.

But the movie will be equally satisfying to those who just find it funny that Homer wants to kiss his pet pig — or laugh at Marge pondering the (literally) weighty issue of the pig’s “leavings”, or excrement.

Early on The Simpsons team shows their nerve by making Homer wonder out loud why anyone would pay to buy a cinema ticket to watch what they could see on TV free — the underlying question of the whole big-screen adaptation. In Homer’s view, anyone who pays for cinema tickets to watch a TV show is a sucker. Jabbing his finger at the audience, he declares: “Particularly you!”

What you get for your money is the Simpsons on an epic scale. The familiar, if geographically indeterminate, territory of Springfield is suddenly transformed into a cross between The Truman Show and Escape from New York, with a Big Brother government conspiring to keep all its unruly residents in line until it can be bombed into a “new Grand Canyon” tourist attraction.

The middle section, set in Alaska, lags because of the absence of the familiar props of the Simpsons’ home town. I found myself longing for Homer and his tribe to return to wreak more havoc on their neighbours, particularly the long-suffering Flanders.

But the film ends with a tense second-by-second countdown that fully exploits the bathos of that schlump Homer becoming an action star able save the world, or at least his little part of it. The conventions of the “disaster flick” allow The Simpsons’ left-leaning creator, Matt Groening, to indulge his politics with wry warnings of environmental doom without boring us out of our mustard-yellow skin.

Lisa, Homer and Marge’s swotty daughter, has become an ardent environmentalist who makes an Al Gore-style presentation entitled “An Irritating Truth” to the local populace.

In the same spirit, this film could have been subtitled: “An Inconvenient Cartoon”.

Game : 4X4 Race it out...

2007-08-02T07:01:00.000+05:30

Game : Sonic is Here !!!

2007-08-02T07:00:00.001+05:30

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Jerry King Comic Strip

2007-08-02T06:56:00.000+05:30

Harry Potter : Order of the Phoenix

2007-07-20T09:13:00.000+05:30

“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” the fifth movie in the series, begins, as most of the others have, with a spot of unpleasantness at the Dursleys, and ends with Harry facing down Lord Voldemort. The climactic battle between the young wizard (Daniel Radcliffe) and the Dark Lord (Ralph Fiennes) foreshadows the final, potentially fatal showdown we all suspect is coming in Book Seven, which will be published later this month.Anticipation of that event may be stealing some thunder from this movie — a rare instance of the book business beating Hollywood at its own hype-producing game — but between now and publication day on July 21, Potter fans can take some satisfaction in a sleek, swift and exciting adaptation of J. K. Rowling’s longest novel to date. Devotees of fine British acting, meanwhile, can savor the addition of Imelda Staunton (an Oscar nominee for “Vera Drake”) to the roster of first-rate thespians moonlighting as Hogwarts faculty.

Curiously enough, “Order of the Phoenix,” clocking in at a little over two and a quarter hours, is the shortest of the “Harry Potter” films. The nearly 900-page source has been elegantly streamlined by Michael Goldenberg, the screenwriter (who replaces Steve Kloves), and David Yates, the director (who follows Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón and Mike Newell in the job). There is no Quidditch, and not many boarding-school diversions. Instead, “Order of the Phoenix,” which begins like a horror movie with a Dementor attack in a suburban underpass, proceeds as a tense and twisty political thriller, with clandestine meetings, bureaucratic skullduggery and intimations of conspiracy hanging in the air.

Mr. Yates, whose previous work has mainly been in television, is best known in Britain for “State of Play,” a brilliant mini- series about power, corruption and deceit. Those are among the themes he explores in this film, which depicts a wizard world riven by factionalism and threatened by chaos and inflexible authoritarianism. While Cornelius Fudge, the minister of magic (Robert Hardy), maintains his highly suspect denial of Voldemort’s return, a coup at Hogwarts threatens the benevolent administration of Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon). Harry, meanwhile, has gone from prince to pariah, smeared in the magical press (where his name is rendered “Harry Plotter”) and subject to cold stares and whispers at school. Back in Harry’s early days at Hogwarts, Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), Harry’s foil and reluctant ally, sneered at the boy’s “celebrity.” But in this episode, the boy — if you can still call him that — encounters the darker side of fame.

Some of his schoolmates doubt his account of the death of Cedric Diggory, who was killed by Voldemort at the end of the previous film, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” Dumbledore, Harry’s chief patron and protector over the years, seems to be keeping his distance, which leaves Harry feeling abandoned and betrayed. And more acutely, the pressures of being a designated hero — and possibly martyr — have begun to weigh on Harry, to isolate him from friends and to come between him and the possibility of a normal teenage life.

He does, at least, experience a first kiss with Cho Chang (Katie Leung), but that turns out to be a brief and equivocal moment of bliss. Whereas “Goblet of Fire” plunged Harry and his pals into the murky waters of awakening adolescent sexuality (or at least got their toes wet), “Order of the Phoenix” tackles the emotional storms that can buffet young people on their way to adulthood. Mr. Radcliffe, maturing as an actor in perfect time with his character, emphasizes Harry’s anger and self-pity. Mr. Yates frequently places him alone on one side of the frame, with Ron and Hermione (Rupert Grint and Emma Watson), his loyal but increasingly estranged friends, together on the other.

But this is not an Ingmar Bergman film, though perhaps Mr. Bergman can be coaxed into service for the film version of “Deathly Hallows,” the final book of the series. “Order of the Phoenix” has its grim, bleak elements, but it is also, after all, an installment in a mighty multimedia entertainment franchise. And like its predecessors, it manages to succeed as a piece of entertainment without quite fulfilling its potential as a movie. Perhaps by design, the films never quite live up to the books. This one proves to be absorbing but not transporting, a collection of interesting moments rather than a fully integrated dramatic experience. This may just be a consequence of the necessary open-endedness of the narrative, or of an understandable desire not to alienate “Potter” readers by taking too many cinematic chances.

Although “Order of the Phoenix” is not a great movie, it is a pretty good one, in part because it does not strain to overwhelm the audience with noise and sensation. There are some wonderful special-effects-aided set pieces — notably an early broomstick flight over London — and some that are less so. People waving wands at one another, even accompanied by bright lights and scary sounds, does not quite sate this moviegoer’s appetite for action. But the production design (by Stuart Craig) and the cinematography (by Slawomir Idziak) are frequently astonishing in their aptness and sophistication. The interiors of the Ministry of Magic offer a witty, nightmarish vision of wizardly bureaucracy, while Harry’s angst and loneliness register in Mr. Idziak’s cold, washed-out shades of blue.

The scariest color in his palette, however, turns out to be pink. That is the color favored by Dolores Umbridge (Ms. Staunton), whose cheery English-auntie demeanor masks a ruthlessly autocratic temperament. She posts proclamations on the Hogwarts walls, subjects violators to painful punishments and substitutes book learning for practical magic. Her purpose is to institute Minister Fudge’s head-in-the-sand policy with respect to the Voldemort threat, and she does a heck of a job.

Ms. Staunton joins an astonishing ensemble of serious actors who, in the best British tradition, refuse to condescend to the material, earning their paychecks and the gratitude of the grown-ups in the audience. Mr. Rickman has turned Snape (whose animus against Harry is partly explained here) into one of the most intriguingly ambiguous characters in modern movies, and it is always a treat to see the likes of Emma Thompson, David Thewlis and Gary Oldman, however briefly.

Even better, the Potter enterprise has become a breeding ground for the next generation of British acting talent. Mr. Radcliffe has already spread his wings (and dropped his pants) on the London stage, and cultural pessimists of my generation can take comfort in knowing that while our parents may have witnessed Malcolm McDowell and Julie Christie in their prime, our children will see Mr. Grint and Ms. Watson in theirs. “Order of the Phoenix” also introduces Evanna Lynch, a pale, wide-eyed 15-year-old nonprofessional from Ireland who, having read the book, decided that no one else could play Luna Lovegood, the weirdest witch at Hogwarts. It seems Ms. Lynch was right. She’s spellbinding.

“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Its violence is intense, though not graphic, and some of its images are quite scary.

Harry Potter : The Deathly Hallows

2007-07-20T09:04:00.000+05:30

So, here it is at last: The final confrontation between Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One, the “symbol of hope” for both the Wizard and Muggle worlds, and Lord Voldemort, He Who Must Not Be Named, the nefarious leader of the Death Eaters and would-be ruler of all. Good versus Evil. Love versus Hate. The Seeker versus the Dark Lord.J. K. Rowling’s monumental, spellbinding epic, 10 years in the making, is deeply rooted in traditional literature and Hollywood sagas — from the Greek myths to Dickens and Tolkien to “Star Wars.” And true to its roots, it ends not with modernist, “Soprano”-esque equivocation, but with good old-fashioned closure: a big-screen, heart-racing, bone-chilling confrontation and an epilogue that clearly lays out people’s fates. Getting to the finish line is not seamless — the last part of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the seventh and final book in the series, has some lumpy passages of exposition and a couple of clunky detours — but the overall conclusion and its determination of the main characters’ story lines possess a convincing inevitability that make some of the prepublication speculation seem curiously blinkered in retrospect.

With each installment, the “Potter” series has grown increasingly dark, and this volume — a copy of which was purchased at a New York City store yesterday, though the book is embargoed for release until 12:01 a.m. on Saturday — is no exception. While Ms. Rowling’s astonishingly limber voice still moves effortlessly between Ron’s adolescent sarcasm and Harry’s growing solemnity, from youthful exuberance to more philosophical gravity, “Deathly Hallows” is, for the most part, a somber book that marks Harry’s final initiation into the complexities and sadnesses of adulthood.

From his first days at Hogwarts, the young, green-eyed boy bore the burden of his destiny as a leader, coping with the expectations and duties of his role, and in this volume he is clearly more Henry V than Prince Hal, more King Arthur than young Wart: high-spirited war games of Quidditch have given way to real war, and Harry often wishes he were not the de facto leader of the Resistance movement, shouldering terrifying responsibilities, but an ordinary teenage boy — free to romance Ginny Weasley and hang out with his friends.

Harry has already lost his parents, his godfather Sirius and his teacher Professor Dumbledore (all mentors he might have once received instruction from) and in this volume, the losses mount with unnerving speed: at least a half-dozen characters we have come to know die in these pages, and many others are wounded or tortured. Voldemort and his followers have infiltrated Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic, creating havoc and terror in the Wizard and Muggle worlds alike, and the members of various populations — including elves, goblins and centaurs — are choosing sides.

No wonder then that Harry often seems overwhelmed with disillusionment and doubt in the final installment of this seven-volume bildungsroman. He continues to struggle to control his temper, and as he and Ron and Hermione search for the missing Horcruxes (secret magical objects in which Voldemort has stashed parts of his soul, objects that Harry must destroy if he hopes to kill the evil lord), he literally enters a dark wood, in which he must do battle not only with the Death Eaters, but also with the temptations of hubris and despair.

Harry’s weird psychic connection with Voldemort (symbolized by the lightning-bolt forehead scar he bears as a result of the Dark Lord’s attack on him as a baby) seems to have grown stronger too, giving him clues to Voldemort’s actions and whereabouts, even as it lures him ever closer to the dark side. One of the plot’s significant turning points concerns Harry’s decision on whether to continue looking for the Horcruxes — the mission assigned to him by the late Dumbledore — or to pursue the Hallows, three magical objects said to make their possessor the master of Death.

Harry’s journey will propel him forward to a final showdown with his arch enemy, and also send him backward into the past, to the house in Godric’s Hollow where his parents died, to learn about his family history and the equally mysterious history of Dumbledore’s family. At the same time, he will be forced to ponder the equation between fraternity and independence, free will and fate, and to come to terms with his own frailties and those of others. Indeed, ambiguities proliferate throughout “The Deathly Hallows”: we are made to see that kindly Dumbledore, sinister Severus Snape and perhaps even the awful Muggle cousin Dudley Dursley may be more complicated than they initially seem, that all of them, like Harry, have hidden aspects to their personalities, and that choice — more than talent or predisposition — matters most of all.

It is Ms. Rowling’s achievement in this series that she manages to make Harry both a familiar adolescent — coping with the banal frustrations of school and dating — and an epic hero, kin to everyone from the young King Arthur to Spider-Man and Luke Skywalker. This same magpie talent has enabled her to create a narrative that effortlessly mixes up allusions to Homer, Milton, Shakespeare and Kafka, with silly kid jokes about vomit-flavored candies, a narrative that fuses a plethora of genres (from the boarding-school novel to the detective story to the epic quest) into a story that could be Exhibit A in a Joseph Campbell survey of mythic archetypes.

In doing so, J. K. Rowling has created a world as fully detailed as L. Frank Baum’s Oz or J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, a world so minutely imagined in terms of its history and rituals and rules that it qualifies as an alternate universe, which may be one reason the “Potter” books have spawned such a passionate following and such fervent exegesis. With this volume, the reader realizes that small incidents and asides in earlier installments (hidden among a huge number of red herrings) create a breadcrumb trail of clues to the plot, that Ms. Rowling has fitted together the jigsaw-puzzle pieces of this long undertaking with Dickensian ingenuity and ardor. Objects and spells from earlier books — like the invisibility cloak, Polyjuice Potion, Dumbledore’s Pensieve and Sirius’s flying motorcycle — play important roles in this volume, and characters encountered before, like the house-elf Dobby and Mr. Ollivander the wandmaker, resurface, too.

The world of Harry Potter is a place where the mundane and the marvelous, the ordinary and the surreal coexist. It’s a place where cars can fly and owls can deliver the mail, a place where paintings talk and a mirror reflects people’s innermost desires. It’s also a place utterly recognizable to readers, a place where death and the catastrophes of daily life are inevitable, and people’s lives are defined by love and loss and hope — the same way they are in our own mortal world.

Source : The New York Times

Zelda

2007-07-18T21:35:00.001+05:30

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Monsters Inc - Review

2007-07-18T13:57:00.000+05:30

The idea that evil is powered by fear is a primary underlying theme in many horror tales (see Stephen King's /It/ for example). Monsters, Inc. breaks this myth by illustrating that evil, in the form of monsters, might not be what we think, and that there's something more powerful than fear that could be used to power their world.

The focus of /Monsters, Inc./ is a made-up world of monsters, Monstropolis, which is powered by the screams of little children. Since not all children have the same fears, monsters (and children) are carefully profiled such that the scream output is maximal. A child not afraid of a monster is therefore particularly terrifying to them.

Every night, the monsters venture into our world (through closet doors) and collect screams, with a running competition as to who collects the most. The scream leader is Sully (voiced by John Goodman), who's actually a good-hearted sort, and in second place, vying for first, is Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi), who's evil even by monster standards.

One child, Boo (Mary Gibbs), who apparently isn't afraid of anyone except Randall, enters the monster world and causes panic. It turns out that Boo is a victim of a more global conspiracy that Sully and his friend Mike (Billy Crystal) must unearth. In doing so, they find a source of power that is more fulfilling than a child's scream.
The film contains some great animated sequences, including a chase scene involving thousands of doors. As with many other animated movies, the gadgets and workings in the power factory are imaginative and inspiring. /Monster's Inc./, like /Shrek/, is an animated film made for both young and old alike. While it doesn't delve too much into the realm of parody, it's novel story line combined with quality animation and voices make it a must-see on the big screen.

Strip of the day

2007-07-18T13:50:00.000+05:30

Farmer

2007-07-17T12:06:00.000+05:30

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Bomb it !!

2007-07-17T12:00:00.000+05:30

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