Thursday, July 24, 2008

 

Lines written in the end of Summer

It’s been an excuse of a summer, weather wise, here in the capital. But thank God for that. I could do with more of these. With climatic and metaphoric end of summer right around the bend, I decided it was time for the much-awaited report of my activities over the last couple of Lunar cycles. Highlights.

  1. The Summer Internship- Having been rejected unceremoniously by Reliance (Big Brother’s), TATA Steel and Abhishek Industries, Lefty had come agonizingly close to losing the evergreen smile on his face. However, Messrs. Larsen and Toubro chivalrously came to the aid of this damned cell in distress. A great lesson in life was learned and I pass it on to ye less wise ones- “What can be done in eight weeks can also be done in six and can be done even more brilliantly in four”.
  1. Gone with the Wind- L&T and self having parted with mutual pleasantries and admiration (one always hopes), the quintessential happy ending had been achieved. It was naturally time, in this life full of care, to stand and stare to the heart’s content. Standing being strenuous exercise, I preferred sitting and staring. Read earlier post for details. I also started reading the third mammoth novel that I have ever read. Reasons for doing so were simple. I had the Vivian Leigh-Clark Gable starrer on my hard disk and it, being a VOB file, was taking up an immodest 4.5 GB of precious memory. In order to delete it, I felt I had to watch it first, and in order to watch it, I felt I had to read it first. Plus, the book had been spoken highly of in Kane and Abel. I finished the thousand page war epic, taking the better part of 3 days to do so. Then I deleted the VOB file without watching the movie anyway. 4.5 GB well earned.
  1. Kung-Fu Panda- Good movie. I didn’t enjoy it as much as others would have because I’d had some unrealistic expectations. But I recognize that it was good movie. 2 specially amazing sequences. Some funny scenes. An empty air-conditioned hall in which one could put up one’s feet on the seat in front. What more does a man want?
  1. Hancock- Decent. Will Smith’s done a fine job. I liked the concept of a lazy unwilling much-maligned and even more hated superhero, but thought the rest of the film could have been much better. A soppy end spoiled what could have been a good film.
  1. Osian Cinefan Film Festival- Was held in Delhi from 10 to 20 July. Lesser known Asian and Arabic films were screened. Went there with The Complete Man on his Mean Machine. Was reminded how much fun a bike-ride could be. The ambience in the film festival was good. There was a panel discussion with some young directors constituting the panel. Speakers I enjoyed listening to were- a Pakistani who had made a gory film about zombies running loose in the land of the pure and had hoodwinked the traditional authorities in order to shoot such a non-traditional film, a Chinese who had made his film for a paltry $2,000 and was quite witty to boot, an Indonesian lady who had demanded beer and had been rather unhappy when denied and then revealed that she had raised the money for her film through her bevy of ex’s. The film we eventually watched was a Lebanese one- Under the Bombs. It turned out to be more of a documentary so we left halfway.
  1. Jaane Tuya Jaane Na- Stupid gay movie. Idiots made Garfield pink.
  1. The Dark Knight- Now this was a movie. Showed the true spirit of Batman, I thought. My words can’t really do it justice, so I won’t say anymore. Go watch it. Then watch it again. And again. And again.
  1. Food- Quality and quantity were appreciated. Some of the more delicious meals were at Dilli Haat with the Incredible Bulk, 2 at Asia’s Kitchen- a great new Chinese Joint and a couple at the ever-mouth-watering KFC. Many more but it’s getting rather late and it’s been a long hard day.

I also turned 21 over the summer. The happiest day of the season, perhaps.

Next year, many will be able to say to me- I know what you did last summer. Muhuhahaha.

And Happy Birthday, Kaka.


Comments:
I believe damsel would be more appropriate. And I'm game for another round of 'The Dark Knight'. But make it in Delhi, please please please. And 'Gone with the Wind' is a great book. OK, maybe not the same class as Kane and Abel, but then, it's got one of the best writing styles of early 20th century novels, not to mention an entirely new take on the Civil War.
 
The Osian Cinefan Film Festival??
Are you kidding me?????
And thanx a lot for letting the world know about my birthday.. saves me the mandatory birthday blogpost!!
 
On points 1, 3 and 7 I'm absolutely with you. The Dark Knight is unbelievable, as Dela succinctly put it. One of those movies that gets you wondering if you could ever save the city and the damsels. If only I were a gazillionaire.
Do not at all agree on 6, and I'm shaken that you'd use the words stupid and gay in the same sentence, leave alone together. I think it was the most palatable mushy movies in a long time.
So you've had a great summer, eh? I'm jealous.
And Happy Birthday again!
 
@Point 5
Duh? Connoisseur, eh?

@Point 6
(Cheap Publicity) Your review was much closer to the point apart from the G word...
 
I couldn't have agreed more over point 6. I always knew there was something missing whenever I talked of that movie. Now I know it, it's a stupid gay movie. Makes perfect sense.
 
@ Rapu
Sure. And I think you should think of Noida as your own special pilgrimage once a year. And I thought Gone With the Wind was a great read too. I'd never read a War novel before so it was a novel experience. 1000 pages were a lot but good.

@ Kaka
No, da. I'm perfectly serious. And thanks.

@ Shrey
Yes, you'd told me it was a good cute movie. But I found it far from good and only slightly cute. There are some mush movies but they're generally ok, this was bad. It stretched and stretched and was senseless. A good cute movie would be... ummm... Boys and Girls maybe? Though that was not that good but cute enough. This belonged to the special genre of gay movies that I created after watching it.

@ Murthy
The documentary was very boring. So was JTYJN.
 
@ Amit
You're getting inconsistent my dear fellow. Your post suggests slightly otherwise. Take a stand.
 
With you on points 3 and 7 da. Would have been with you on point 4 a couple of days ago. I later learned that Aishwarya was the first choice for playing the role of Charlize Theron and have been calling it a stupid movie ever since.

I'm with HHH on point 6. Stupid movie all right, but gay?
 
I had clearly written in my post it's a no great movie. The title of the movie just makes certain resemblance with the title of my post. The big co-incidence was with my thoughts which occurred some time after watching that movie. That never really makes me think good of the movie. I wasted 160 bucks on the movie while I could have waited a few more days for the dark knight.

And I agree with you on 4 too.
 
This comment has been removed by the author.
 
One more thing master. You have hurt my Jedi pride. How can you use stupid and gay in the same sentence?
 
@ Dela
When I say Gay movie, I don't mean Gay in the usual exalted honourary sense of the word. It's a new genre I coined up after watching Jaane Tu... Can't seem to describe it very well. Will try to do so when I meet you.

@ Amit
Very well then.
Acquitted you are.
 
Yeah, I guess I can see the bhavna behind Lefty's use of the G-word now...I was discussing it with Anirudh in some lame bakar session...The G-word is more of a 'Oh, that's so gay, dude!' gay rather than the H gay one thinks of immediately...
Might sound lame...but I hope you get the bhavna behind this...
 
@ Murty
You grasp well, minion dear. See a bright future for you, I do.
 
Blessed I am!
 
Blessed I am!
 
Oh well, I do agree on The Dark Knight part... And the Kung-Fu Panda. But Hancock is a huge disappointment esp. when the it-didn't-meet-my-expectations is mixed with bad print on the DVD.

P.S. Is it that good to turn 21?
 
And a very belated happy birthday
 
@ Murty
Being blessed once should have been enough, I would have thought.

@ Anirudh
Hancock in the hall was less disappointing than Hancock on a bad DVD, I guess. If nothing, there was a comfortable reclining chair in a nice cool hall. And yes, 21 is the age to be.
Thanks for the wishes too.
 
This comment has been removed by the author.
 
Perpetual criticism of Jaane Tu Ya Na on blogs has, in fact, motivated me to watch the movie. Not that I have any inclination towards gay movies but I would like to see how anyone can a make a movie bad enough to be called stupid, gay and what-not at several other places!

Since I respect your reviews without any shadow of doubt, I would also watch Kung-Fu Panda.

And most importantly, Belated Happy Birthday!
 
@ Vikesh
Before you watch Jaane Tu... be warned. You might easily enjoy it. I'm part of the very small minority that didn't. Kung Fu Panda, on the other hand, is eminently watchable.
And thanks a lot for the wishes.
 
Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]





<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Subscribe to Posts [Atom]