Thursday, December 18, 2003

Movie Log

Being at home sick would have been a a real drag if it weren't for a few good movies i got to watch...


CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND

George Clooney's diretorial debut. Been wanting to see it for quite some time. Couldn't catch it in the theatres. Got it at home. It's got some real awesome performances. Sam Rockwell is great as Chuck Barris. George Clooney is dead on, and Drew Barrymore chips in too. Though they could have gotten someone else for Julia Robert's role.

At times, i couldn't really follow what was going on, but it did make for interesting viewing. Some of my friends who saw it in the theater couldn't really understand the movie, and i guess you do need to have a certain idea as to what the movie is about, before watching it. And some familiarity with american game-shows wouldn't hurt either. Here's the story. Chuch Barris was a game-show producer, very successful. In his autobiography he claimed the CIA recruited him as a hitman. he killed about 33 people. Simple enought.

The movie has some real offbeat pacing. Barris's rise to fame is portrayed pretty fast. And way too much time is devoted to his bed-time habits, if ya catch my drift. His recruitement could have been more impactful too. But hey, the direction's great! Very entertaining. Makes me wanna read the book..


MATCHSTICK MEN

This one, i just finished it. Had seen the trailer for it when i'd gone to see Terminator 3, and it seemed pretty intriguing. And the was prety damn good. Heck, it was so good it would probably blow your socks off if you wore any..

Nicholas Cage. Man, can this dude act or what! His neurotic, eye-twitching con-artist role is so deftly handled it's hard to believe he's just acting, and that off screen he's just a normal everyday dude. Sam Rockwell as his partner, very understated. Very cool. and finally Alison Lohman (that her name?) as his 14 year old daughter. Very expressive and very convincing.

The story? Cage and Rockwell are conmen. Cage is kinda neurotic. Rockwell gets him a shrink, who convinces Cage to get in touch with his wife, whom he left 14 years ago. She wont meet him, but the daughter will. And then his world turns upside down.

I found it hard to believe that after meeting her dad for the first time in 14 years, and girl could relate to him so easily, but that's explained in the ending. And whoohoo!! What a knockout of a conclusion!! it was great!! Totally made up for the relatively slow pace of the movie. And if anyone's wondering what Matchstick Men stands for, it means conmen.

Sunday, December 07, 2003

Viva La Government

It's really infuriating to see how our government works. Efficiency and productiveness must be the last things on their minds. The question of any semblence of order never even arises.

I became eligible to vote two years back. I didn't care much. However, my mom wanted to get my voter's card made. Fine by me. She needed to get her card changed, and we could get two new ones made, one for me, and one for my brother. It wasn't much of a problem getting the form. The cleck at the centre in Andheri was actually helpful. I remember commenting something to the effect of "I'm shocked!", to my mom on the way out. Well, i didn't know the meaning of shocked.

We had to come back to this school near our house to submit the form. So we go in, pretty happy, as there was no crowd, and our fear of having anything to do with the government slowly evaporating. And then we find out that our building's name wasn't there on the voter's list.

Let me run that by you again. Our. Building's. Name. Wasn't. There. On. The. Voter's. List.

We cease to exist officially. This sucks!! This was so fucking infuriating!! They wanted us to go back to the head office and get things sorted out there. Screw this!! I mean, fuck, four years later, when the next elections come around, i probably wont even be around the country anymore. I'm not gonna waste my time and energy running around to sort out this bureaucratic mess. Especially when there isn't one single party or candidate even worth voting for.

Viva la fucked up government!!

Saturday, October 25, 2003

Home sweet home!

That's right, no place like it. No matter where you go, no matter who you're with, ultimately, no other place feels like home. Ofcourse, spending time at my grandparents' place isn't too bad either, feels like i'm at a holiday home, heh. No work to do, just sleep and watch tv all day long..

I'd taken some books and stuff to study too, but i think from the next time i'll keep the junk at home.

Tuesday, October 21, 2003

Separation...

I finally put my jeans in for wash. They pushed me past my breaking-point, and that is no small feat. My Lee Coopers. I'll miss them. They've been my companions for the last month and a half. Hope they're back soon. I need to wear them tommorow.

Monday, October 20, 2003

Domino's sucks..

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

It was pretty lonely coming home today. For the last couple of months, there had always been someone at home. I step in today, and all of a sudden i realise i'm alone once again. Bro in Russia, grandparents back in Thana, and mom, at work. Kickback to the days gone by, when i used to lap up any time i got to spent alone. Adapt and change, i guess.

I watched Se7en. Pretty damn good movie. And one kick-ass of an ending. Brad Pitt aint too hot on my list, but damn, he makes some good career choices. Snatch, Spy Games, Fight Club, Kalifornia. Definetely among some of my best...

Monday, October 13, 2003

Kapil just called from Russia and spoke to mom. It's 8 degrees out there, and apparantly all the jackets and sweaters they took with them are proving to be insufficient. So they're planning on buying some woollens. It should start snowing by next week, so i hope they hurry up.

Saturday, October 11, 2003

Well, we just got back from the airport. Kapil's flight was on time. They got in pretty easy. Plus no duty on the excessive weight. Till Delhi atleast. So that's good for them. For the moment..
Boy, what a massive turnout at the airport! All his college buddies, school mates, and even friends from our area had turned up. As it is, the last few weeks had been like one giant party for him. Friends over all the time, him out at their place, dinner invitations, like, wow, that's living it up!!
Anywez, mom, the grans, and me, we waited at the airport till about 6. Even Swarna waited with us. She was crying almost as much as mom. Not me though, no crying on joyous occassions.
What a mad-house!! People all over the place, swarming like the bees over a drop of necter. Everyone had come to meet my bro. And as usual, they came late. So they ended up staying late. And hence, left real late. Leading to us sleeping real late.
We had some kirtans at our house, and most of the people didn't know that it was planned. But they still liked it pretty much. However, i'd say the food could have been better. People seemed to devour it like there was no tommorow, but not me. Maybe i'm more fickle than most people.

It's morning now, and we couldn't sleep late. I had to get the final packing done for my brother. We should be leaving for the airport by about 2:30. His flight is at 5:40, and Pushkar's pop is operating the flight to delhi. So it's gonna be cool for them..

Saturday, October 04, 2003

Just got back from the, zzzzz... theatre where I just, zzzzz... saw, zzzz... Baghban. The movie is, zzzzz... so excruciatingly, zzzzz... slow and long.
But Hema Malini is still as gorgeous as ever. An so is Lillette Dubey. And Amitabh Bachchan is overrated.
A good story, with surprisingly good songs. But still, soooo, very, freakin' slow and long. They should have trimmed it by an hour atleast.

Also saw Hulk. Contrary to popular belief, i loved the direction. Ang Lee's use of split screens was very cool. However the FX were a let-down. Didnt really gel with most of the outdoor shots. Like the Hulk Dogs scene. Felt very unnatural. And in one shot, the poodle-dog had no shadow. But still, very smooth direction, and great script. And great Jennifer Connely too.

Friday, October 03, 2003

BowWow!! Seven cds in my hand and u expect me to study? 3 music videos, 1 game, and 1 movie cd. Plus two RW's, with some softwares and lotsa crap. Nice..
Yesterday night, i was aiming for VB or Java. Or hell, maybe even some ERP. i guess it's hard to study when your eyes refuse to remain open. As it is, staying up till 3 can do wierd things to your mind. Like what Dhana and Khamba were doing....

I just got home from Dhana's, some time back, and can just about manage to post this, with my net connection crawling along slower than a turtle with arthritis. Plus, i'm cold. Hanging out of the train when it's pouring cats and dogs isn't exactly the smartest of ideas, but hey, better wet than suffocated, i always say.

Sunday, September 28, 2003

Gawd! I just can't seem to get through Boom. Pathetic would be an understatement. The movie is so freakin' slow and idotic. Acting sucks. Even if the models could act, it wouldn't have made any difference, because the direction would have killed it.
Guess Kaizad Gustad must have been trying to make like an Indian Tarantino but lost his way 10 minutes into filming.

I'm also half-way through Mumbai Matinee. Compared to that travesty of a movie that is Boom, this one sure seems like a classic. Rahul Bose seems good enough, but once again, he is an ad-executive, and once again he is working on a condom ad, and once again he comes up with some saaaad slogans. Jhankar Beats, anyone?

Tuesday, September 23, 2003

Nerul is a lot better than i expected. Lots of open space, great air to breathe, and fantastic weather today.
I had to meet some relatives on my dad's side there. Didn't want to go, but i'm glad i did. They had a huge bungalow and a garden outside. And a dog. Wow! That was one playful animal. A labrador, only 6 months old. A pretty good thing too, or else i would have probably fallen asleep on the couch. Spent about half the day there. Got home, and fell asleep. And now i'm wide awake.. Damn.

Friday, September 19, 2003

The world sure is a depressing place to live in. I just saw a couple of shops near my house, they were broken down by the BMC. Sure, they were illegal, but it's hard to think of that when you see the kids standing over the rubble, looking at the ruins beneath them. And next to them, this huge water tanker sets off along it's way, with half of it's water spiling out.

Hope takes will-power. All depression takes is to open your eyes and look around.

Tuesday, September 16, 2003

Looks like i'm back to what i do best, typing out whatever i can, or at times cannot, think of. Used to do that back on my old homepage, but it got way too frustrating to upload a new page every second day.
Plus, there are the tactical advantages. Nobody can read my handwriting, and i speak too fast for people to comprehend what i'm saying.
Thank god for blogSpot..