District 9

Aliens.

This is as real as it gets.

No second thoughts.

Watch the movie wherever you are.

Not recommended for girls and kids.

50 years to the legend Kamal!

Today (Aug 12th), Kamal completes 50 years of on-screen acting. Below was my take on Dasavatharam movie when it released in 2008. To a person who has been a trend setter always, here's my salute:

Off late, Kamal is always racing against himself. None seem to be up there racing with him. When a man has seen so much in his field, I wonder how is thought process will be. Will he be thinking cinema even in his dreams? Maybe. But as my better half quipped "When he can 'act' in ten different ways, why does he don ten different make ups?". I had no answer to that question. But this question very well could be the answer to how Dasavatharam fares (how is when you watch the movie). Not that the man himself would worry about. The box office hype and marketing strategies (something he missed out for Aalavandhan) will certainly carry the film across.

But as a fan, what do I get?

Kamal in all his brilliance. Period.

The body language and dialogue delivery of all the ten roles will blow you out. The tremendous effort put in for each role are evidently seen and will be appreciated. There is subtle humour around every corner and the constant poking of Kamal's atheist-in-him is beautifully done (aka Anbe Sivam's character). The graphics are good. Background score is done well.

Maybe they did this film in a hurry but some of the make ups could have been done better. They seem way out of place and artificial. The story is loosely based on Chaos theory and is woven beautifully to accomodate the Tsunami in a way we would not have imagined. But some of the characters that Kamal plays seem thrusted upon the story. Its almost like 'heyyy...i am done with 8 characters.....now, where do i fit the 9th one...'.

All said and done, its worth a watch once to see the greatest actor of our times to put himself in unfamiliar grounds once more and come out with his glory intact (albeit with a few scars).

Hairy Tales!

See Chris Rock (a stand up comedian in US) get to Chennai in quest of ....he he he..

(its a Youtube Video link)

http://tinyurl.com/mlx9jm

Now, that's a hair raising tale!...:))

At least Chennai gets its due ...:)

Jagermeister

Am from the school of thought..sorry...'bar' of thought that Tequila is the drink for instant kick! Until, I tried Jagermeister (pronounced 'YAY-gur-MAIST-ur').

Its a shot drink from Germany tasting like a cough syrup (ughh!). One shot in a bar made all the girls/ladies around me look so beautiful! he he he.....

So, ...:)

Wooo...

Now, in Freak Teaky Friday, there was a person walking around with a German Shepherd (albeit a close cropped one with very less hair and a gray/black one at that). It was very obedient and playing with onlookers. When the band stopped playing, I was watching it play around and suddenly noticed that something was not right.

It's eyes.

They were different.

Mel looked at me gaping and said "That's not a dog....it's a wolf'.

That moment, I dropped all ideas of going near it.

Freaky Tiki Friday

Last Friday, on an invite, went down to downtown for Freak Tiki Friday. Local bands play to a crowd in front of the bars. The bars alternately sponsor this event to attract crowds and hence its free to the people. I call this the 'Follow the Money' business model. Nothing is free in this world. You just got to follow the money.

Anyways, Mike and Mel had invited me over and I got introduced to a couple of their friends. Mel was my boss' sis. After a couple of beers, I found that there was no college crowd around. One of the persons at my table was a former bartender and she gave an interesting insight. College kids hit the bars around their campus only. There, everything comes cheaper than anywhere outside. Hmm..

The band was good and I personally met the lady singing. Mike had actually been a former drummer and had helped compose some of the songs the band was playing. After that, we hit another late night bar; another band. It was like 12 midnight when I left.

MIT Moments - 1

Today's conf call with my college friends triggered something else in me. I was laughing aloud when I was narrating it to Ramya. Here it is:

It was the first year, I think. We were in NSS camp somewhere near Chengalpattu (behind those small hills that neatly line up along GST). Murali, Pyma, Dhana and me used to stick around those days. Mornings will pass with doing some activities in the village and the evenings will go with some fun games and stuff. We were like 80 people and divided into groups. Each group took turns in staying back at the camp and helping with cooking and serving food.

Now, there was a girl that I used to 'sight' those days. She was in Pyma's group (I think). So, when it was their turn to serve food, it was all arranged that Pyma will make her take the exact food that Murali or I wanted or atleast note what she has. So, she was all the time at our end serving something or the other. She suddenly got wind of it and went the other side. As you know, in a South Indian meal, you eat curd/buttermilk rice after rasam rice. So, we were like in the curd rice and she was having the rasam bucket with her. Thats when I became extra bold and called 'Rasam, please'. She came with a frown on and asked 'heyy...think you are already having curd rice'. I still don't know how I did that. But I simply pointed to Murali and said 'he likes rasam in his curd rice, you know. So, if you can...'. She just poured the rasam hastily and left in a huff.

:)

Offbeat movies 2 - Apocalypse Now

At the end of this, some people might say that am talking blasphemy here. But I will stick to it neverthless. I consider Apolcalypse Now to be the greatest movie made than Godfather. Yeah..you heard it right.

Francis Ford Coppola made this movie (as he did Godfather) in 1979 (the year I was born!). Its about a US captain going in search of a colonel in the Vietnam war. His mission is to get into Cambodia up the Nung river and get to him. The boat crew is as bizzare as the captain and the happenings along the way (in the height of Vietnam war) and their journey to find the colonel makes up the movie.

Its a fairly long movie. A very intense and depressing one. The real picture of war opens up before you. The landscape is amazing and the camera work/direction is astounding. To think that this movie was made in 1979 beats me! I would recommend this movie to all who enjoy war movies. Not for people who get easily depressed or upset. If you can, try to catch the redux version of the movie (made in 1991) which adds extra scenes (and hence extra time) and gives an altogether more intense view. To see this movie, I would suggest that you free a day in advance; get the DVD and watch it in the morning itself. Plan some outdoor activity in the evening with friends. This will give you enough time to get over it by night. I watched it some night and ended up depressed the next day!

Some moments will just take you away. As you get deeper and deeper into the movie, you will agree more and more on how the crew feels and what the captain undergoes. By the end, Marlon Brando's appearance will freak you out and you would just wish you were away somewhere else!

As I said, I consider this the greatest work of Francis Ford Coppola. I met a Vietnam war veteran in US and asked him whether he has seen this movie. He said he sat for 10 min in this movie and walked out.

As the movie begins and ends, The horror...The horror..

Humour at office - 1

Was talking with my boss today and he said 'Saro, do you know the only word which will fit in almost every grammatical position in a sentence? Like a verb, noun, adjective, adverb, etc....'

I did not.

f**k!

:)

Ughh...

Am a guy who totally gets into all psycho movies with glee (along with panki and biku). Anything crazy works with us. But man....did I hit the limit yesterday? Saw a movie with one of my favorites Naomi Watts (ohhh...i love her!). And boy.. was I sick!

There was nothing remotely pleasant about the movie where a family (husband, wife and child) are taken hostage by two teenagers (within the first 10 min). The whole movie was about how each one is killed in their own sweet time.

And the sick part was when the lady takes a gun and shoots one of them down. The other teenager searches for the TV remote. And while I was wondering why the hell should he be searching for the tv remote, the director comes up with a blinder! The guy presses the rewind button and the whole movie rolls back to the point when the wife shoots. When it replays, the guy pulls away the gun from her just before she shoots! sigh....

I wish the director dies in the exact same way in real life.

Rib Fest in Muncie

Am a voracious meat eater. So, was more than happy when I heard of the rib fest this weekend at Muncie. Restaurants/families in towns and villages around Muncie get together yearly in Muncie and make what they are best at.....pork ribs. Aaaah...the smell that hangs in the air....hmmmm....makes your taste buds go berserk! The pork ribs are barbecued and given right away piping hot! And with Heorots beer to accompany, you never want to leave that place. Add to it, a lots of music bands playing music all around. It was a carnival, guys!....:)

I had ribs from two of the best places (had to wait in the line too long but worth it!). I also had elephant ears and funnel cake. The former is so close to our channa batura and the latter is almost like one of the snack we get in India. Both were delicious!

At the gun range

Aug 1 turned out to be fun. I caught up with one of my childhood passion (though it was more toys then). Cliff took me to a gun range with his pistols and rifle. At 25 yards, I fired his semi-automatic pistol and 1949 0.22 remington long range rifle. aahh....the smell of gun powder (similar to our fire crackers) and the boom...boom will melt the heart of any man! And for a first timer, I did not fare bad. I hit the target 98% and most of it were in the circles! Fired like 70 rounds with both. Personally, I like the rifle more (the pistol is too noisy and is more a short range).

I managed to pick a bullet I shot and the target sheet as souvenier.

Indian Music

I just played 'maanguyile' song to my American friend here and he loved it! Raja rules!

My friend wanted the youtube link. I had a better idea and told him that I would compile a playlist of compilations which would give him the spectrum of Indian music.

Help me with suggestions!

:)

Offbeat movies - 1

As has been asked often of me by a lot of people, am starting this section of writing a list of offbeat movies that I catch up on DVD or TV....and a short review with it. These movies are not going to have any of the mainstream releases that happened recently. So, it will be something that you can pick from a DVD shop...:)

The Ruins (2008) (Horror)

I am one who avoids horror at any costs but this seemed offbeat and hence I got hooked on. I wish I dint!I was completely freaked out on seeing this. On the lines of tourists-get-to-unknown-place premise, this one is too real and you will feel as if you can encounter something like this in a day-to-day life. And believe me..there are no ghosts! Its something more...:)

New Jersey Drive (1995) (Drama/Action)

Now, am a big fan of black movies. I like their style; the way they talk. Bro, am hooked! This movie is about a group of young black car thieves set in Jersey City in 1995. Its kinda slow movie with no big stars but its an interesting watch. And you can catch a lot of slang that might help you to throw around some air!...:)

The Hammer (2007) (Comedy)

This is a very simple and funny movie about an aged boxer who tries to get back to the ring. A guy named Adam Carolla plays the boxer and his straight face humor is a treat to watch. He has a Nicaragua friend who is like that uncle from Borat guy in terms of his comic sense. The scene where Adam wears the ipod and tries to show off before a girl is hilarious! And the girl in this is a next-door-girl and you will like her definitely!...:)

Event Horizon (1997) (Sci Fi/Horror/Thriller)

Lawrence Fishburne stars in this and I don't know how I missed this one earlier. This is an edge-of-the-seat thriller. A space ship gets lost for 7 years and when it suddenly appears, all is not what it seems. The idea in this movie will scare the s**t out of you!...:)

Water fountain

Here is a night shot of the water fountain in a pond in my Muncie apt complex. And do you see a peeping head? no no...thats no Loch Ness monster. Its a harmless duck! There are about like 40 ducks out here and when I walk there in the middle of the night talking with Ramya, they will rush to my side thinking I have something for them to eat! ....:)

Intimate Strangers

Brian and me had been hitting the Heorots pub every Thursday now. It takes its name from the Beowoulf character and I learnt later that the owner of the pub does own two wolves! I have seen him around with a long beard (he was gracious enough to give us a free pitcher once!) and he has a beer named after him (I will get the name later).

Heorots sells like 400 to 500 beers from around the wolrd. So, there's a tradition in Heorots that if you get to 100 beers, you get your name plaqued to the wooden bar and if you get to 200, you get a T-shirt with Heorots name. Today, Brian reached 200 after three years today and it was a good thing to celebrate.

Anyways, the whole thing about writing today was about meeting this stranger Tony who is a teacher at a nearby high school. I was pounding him with questions and learnt the following

1) US Kids after high school are taking to technology more now than medicine or finance

2) Bright kids are not taking to teaching (he was worried about it!)

3) Kids are taking to agriculture engineering more to do effective farming

Tony had been much thru Europe and he was talking about an interesting country called Liechtenstein which is like just over the size of the town Muncie I live in. So, Tony was down there in a pub (where else) and was talking to the bartender who was from Austria. Tony asked him whether he is now a Liechtenstein citizen. The bartender said that there is no way to become a citizen here since there are no immigration laws. What that means is that the bartender can work there but has to leave every night and get to Austria! No other country's citizen is welcome there. Interesting!

Life aka Casino (The Gita way)

What are you born for?

Imagine.

You walk into a casino. The guy who opens the door gives you a set of chips (aka money aka friends aka relatives aka whatever-f**k-you-can-think-about). There is only one rule. You got to spend every damn chip in the floor. Nothing goes with you when you walk out of the casino!

So, what do you do?

Some play fast; lose all chips.

Some play slow and steady; eventually lose all chips.

Some do not play at all and keep watching others play; eventually are forcefully emptied.

What is the loss? Chips, you think. Nothing! What did you f**king own in the first place to lose?

Till the above statement, it is very clear in Gita.

The only new thing I can think of which is not covered in any holy book is that you are not only playing with the chips but you are a/the f**king chip for someone else. That adds a new and profound meaning to your life. So when someone rolls a dice somewhere, chances are that you are going to be tossed around! Exciting life, eh!

:)

Elusive Rabbit

Like Tom Cruise behind Rabbit's foot in MI3, I had been keeping a watch for this elusive rabbit that keeps playing in the lawn in front of the apartment. Ramya wanted to see this in a picture and everytime I tried to get the camera out, this would disappear. At last today, I was able to slyly catch it on a pic...:)

Tandoori Chicken

Here is the Tandoori Chicken I made today. :) I started getting nostalgic about the Idylwoods days.

Compare and Lose

In the felicitation ceremony for AR Rahman, it was Ilayaraja's turn to speak. When he came up to the podium, there were like two mikes twisted around. He pulled them closer together and made a hand gesture clasping both his hands together! He went on to add that there were two musicians Madan Mohan and Roshan in the Hindi film music world who never met. Roshan, 32, died early and Madan went over to the funeral and asked angrily something like 'What will I do without you? Whom will I compete with?'. That sums up the feelings both Rahman and Raja have for each other.

When I go through some internet content; listen to some heated discussions at workplace/college/schools; even movies (Sarvam), I find the comparison factor despicable. Understanding that it is an inherent character of a human to rake up the comparison factor in anything and everything, I just request to look at the mirror and ask yourself "What do I want?"

Its like this: if everything had to be compared and rated and only the best needs to stay, then how about a hotel/home that sells/makes only its best item day in and out? Would you like to stuff in that item day in and day out? Won't you feel nauseated?

So, feel good that you got the best of both and get immersed in that. After all, they are there creating music for you to enjoy. Why fight over who wins? Why dont you let go of that thought and you win for a change?