I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade

keep talking

2009-06-01T17:42:00.000-07:00

For millions of years mankind lived just like the animals
Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination
We learned to talk

There's a silence surrounding me
I can't seem to think straight
I'll sit in the corner
No one can bother me
I think I should speak now
I can't seem to speak now
My words won't come out right
I feel like I'm drowning
I'm feeling weak now
But I can't show my weakness
I sometimes wonder
Where do we go from here...

(Pink Floyd - The Division Bell (1994) )

The Andy Warhol Museum Pittsburgh

2009-05-29T03:23:00.000-07:00

so a little bit about vivek since he hasn't shared anything about himself on this blog apart from the movies he watches. even that is a pretty irregular thing with him. he does occasionally shoot some pictures and share them with me and so here i am posting a little bit about vivek :)
i myself am kanika. vivek and i are dating.
these pictures you see are from a recent visit to the Andy Warhol Museum Pittsburgh, US.

yes thats where vivek is these days. vivek after graduating from the Delhi University as an engineer, worked with a financial company in Gurgaon. last year he went on to pursue a masters programme in NTU Singapore. vivek is now in PA, USA for one the modules for his masters.

ahhh i find these descriptions and explanations a bit tiring. but i needed to share just so that you know the context of these images.

i'd love to go the Andy Warhol museum myself some day....when o when? they have a wonderful shop there selling warhol art and merchandise.

Blueberry Nights

2009-05-08T08:31:00.001-07:00

I like the posters...Norah Jone's doesn't know how to act. Jude Law and Natalie Portman are impeccable. I like the movie and its Wong Kar Wai (Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love, 2046...).

I would say very watchable and unlike most of the director's previous work, tough elements of music and smoke and light have been replicated.

Gran Torino

2009-04-24T07:29:00.000-07:00

the movie this week is gran torino..a recent film directed, produced and starring clint eastwood..

a somewhat bitter, racist, old hag Walt Kowalski (eastwood) is a war veteran and sticking his grounds in now a predominantly Hmong/Mong (they are an ethnic group from the mountainous regions of southern China)

neighbourhood..which has its share of street gangs. its mentioned during the movie that among the Mongs, the girls go to college and the guys to jail..

so Walt aka Wally has a prized possession..a 1972 Gran Torino which his neighbour Thao tries to steal after being pressurized by his cousin who is a part of the Mong street gang. Thao or toad (that's what Wally prefers to call him) fails but a series of events that follows brings Walt and his neighbours close.

i like the plot and especially the ending, the priest - who is untiring in his attempt to get Walt onto confession and Thao's over protective sister Sue (she has a big mouth and is bold).

its endearing to watch Walt lookout for Thao and Sue..to give up his prejudices and get out of his front porch and meet the Mong people..

murakami, murakami

2009-04-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

i wish to read murakami again..elephant vanishes perhaps...i just finished watching 'luck by chance' and thereafter i had the desire to be the stars in bollywood (the hindi film industry)...and be talking to them perhaps about cinema and things they would like to do apart from acting...not about what they do apart from acting...like is the operative word...isn't ethan hawke writing a novel..or has he already completed that? oops..he has written quite a bit..3 novels which i spot without much digging..

anyway..this is random and disconnected...so yes i want to read haruki murakami..elephant vanishes..

Der Himmel über Berlin (aka Wings of Desire)

2009-04-04T02:33:00.000-07:00

when i first got to know that city of angels was a remake of wings of desire i felt a little cheated..i had to watch the original because i loved the remake version (i still do)..but to be honest with a fear similar to that of, i would loose my old love..well everything turned out perfect in the end. no love lost..but a new love found.

its about angels in berlin..and about humans..their guilt, lost love, passion, ennui, the struggle that surrounds them and consumes their thoughts. its about the celebration of human life..we see angels observing the life of humans..and as a result we see ourselves.

it filled me with sadness and happiness at every moment...every scene..every character..every sound..the black & white texture to the film is warm..(i just read they used a special filter for the black & white scenes which was originally devised for jean cocteau's beauty and the beast)

i'll end with a translation of a few lines from the movie..the movie begins with these lines..

When the child was a child,

it walked with its arms swinging.

lt wanted the stream to be a river,

the river a torrent...

and this puddle to be the sea.

When the child was a child,

it didn't know it was a child.

Everything was full of life,

and all life was one.

When the child was a child,

it had no opinion about anything.

lt had no habits.

lt often sat cross-legged,

took off running...

had a cowlick in its hair,

and didn't pull a face...

when photographed.

Following

2009-04-03T11:09:00.001-07:00

the directorial debut of christopher nolan in term of a full-length feature film couldn't have been more befitting his talent...a friend of mine mentioned the movie was made on a 2500 dollar budget (wikipedia quotes $6000)..the other words i saw online associated to the budget of this film was..no-budget..ultra low budget..lo to no budget..so it was insignificant. but as a novice in terms of technical aspects of film making..i would say i don't see any compromise on the production value..sets..acting..script.. soundtrack..editing..none at all

we see a young struggling writer in london who takes on an obsession of following people..to get to know them..to build characters for his writing..which makes me think, do writers actually do so..and if they do i wonder if its considered ethical in their circle. but i found the idea very tempting..to follow random people, off course with certain rules in place..and to build on them..look at them from a distance.

so our writer actually ends up following a thief who in turn takes him in with his future break ins..it is a pivotal scene in the film when they break into a young couples apartment and as they rummage through..not for expensive items but personal items..as they hold sentimental value and above all they are wrapped with stories hidden underneath them (books..music..the box that every one has with knick knacks and childhood pictures and movie/concert tickets..does tell a lot). that was the primary motivation for the writer to accompany the thief.

what follows thereafter are a series of event which are reminiscent of nolan's future works (especially memento) in terms of the plot (flaskback..non-linear storytelling)..the camera..the other characters. i wouldn't know if one can classify 'following' to be in the psychological thriller genre...but throughout the film there is a sense of eeriness of a lurking conspiracy round the corner. i am biased towards the black & white color and london and british actors and a well written script.

its a good watch and a well made film. i think i would rate it above all i have seen by the same director so far (which includes memento, the prestige and dark knight).

24 Hour Party People

2009-04-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

(from punk to the beatification of the beat)

This film talks about music..punk/new wave..Manchester..drugs..and to me about joy division more than anything. i have heard joy division sort of in the passing but never really dug in. so expect a post of them sometime soon..ian kurtis and love will tear us apart are both haunting.

a little about the director and cast..so the director is michael winterbottom (from Jude..i guess he was talked about in the indian media for - a mighty heart, based on the reporter daniel perl) the lead is steve coogan (playing tony wilson) and he is terrific with his mannerism and britishness.

so we are thrown back to the late 70's in the sleepy manchester city..where more than a handful are fed up of being stuffed by people from the record labels. we see sex pistols, siouxsie & the banshees (never heard of them)..iggy pop (singing the passenger)..the stranglers..

tony wilson..part journalist..part record label owner..part club manager is the center of this movie (though he keeps mentioning how this movie is not about him but the music scene back then)..traces us through the meandering path of the evolution of music..the double helix of genres/music movement..he comes out as a person passionate about the music..but at the same time he is not an artist or an entertainer..he is a facilitator and i guess he knows that. so we get to see joy divison and ian curtis up close an personal to his death but somehow the due credit to new order the band formed by the rest of joy..isn't given much of a mention in the rest of the film. the focus shifts to happy mondays and manchester being the hottest city to part in..

i would say the movie is somewhat no so about the music though it tried really hard to be just that..its about factor records (the label wilson started) and tony wilson..but not a bad watch..it has some great acting..rare footage..and brilliant soundtrack.

Little Miss Sunshine

2009-03-28T11:12:00.000-07:00

i adored olive (the little girl, abigail breslin) from the start of the movie...she's very cute and has a little paunch...and in a lot of ways she is aware and sensitive. i think she is a brilliant actress..the only other movie i have seen her in is - definitely, maybe.

so this is supposed to be the average dysfunctional american family with its quirks and failings but with exception of olive, full of life, curious and jumpy..she is all but 7. olive gets to know that she has a shot at little miss sunshine beauty pageant and as a result convinces her family to drag themselves over 800 miles in their old Volkswagen. the journey is interesting from the start..we get to know more about the granddad aka the heroine addict..the gay scholar for an uncle of olive..dwayne olive's older brother who has taken a vow of silence as a follower of Nietzsche till he gets to his aim (why didn't i think of this myself when i was reading his works..i found the idea brilliant..a must try for all 16 year olds if only for kicks and i so not serious about i just said..so don't quote me)..the father is a complete loser (the self help technique dishing sort of guy)..the mother a chain smoker!

so the journey unfolds with the audience getting to know a little bit more about each one of them...with a rather blase yet warm undertone to it all. there is this particular scene in the movie during the journey which is repeated a couple times...the old VW breaks down in the middle and as result they have to push the car to get it to start and hop on while the VW is rolling..to me this scene was a very apt analogy of the whole idea..expectation.. want of being in any relationship (too strong a statement?)

so cutting to the very end, olive is on the podium with her pageant performance and what happens is hilarious and beautiful...its a happy ending (no she doesn't win!)

a must watch if you haven't done so already..and if you have..maybe a second run

p.s: i must add that the soundtrack compliments the movie (something which i think can make or leave you with a feeling of something amiss on watching a movie)..the track that olive is coached on by her granddad is Superfreak (Roca Sound Remix) by Rick James and it sure is raunchy :)

a start

2009-03-28T10:51:00.001-07:00

if it wasn't for kanika i wouldn't have done this..gotten back my blog up and running. so yes thank you kani..

i watch cinema..and a lot of it...its somewhat both an escape and a window to look at newer things..people..thoughts..ideas and i have started to feel guilty about over doing it. i need to talk and think aloud about them so that is what i hope to do here. i'm guessing my start would be a rather slow one but i have a feeling i am going to love this and i hope so do you.

i used to read a lot but ever since i have take up this masters program i just don't get the time..laughable loves by milan kundera a collection of short stories has been on my desk forever..i have read the first few stories and i think he is brilliant with them..so i hope to talk about what little i read as well..

music..i would do that too..and i thought i would never stop listening to dylan and floyd and beatles...but i have..so more on that..

you can also catch me at kanika's blog for the weekly movie review that i do on her blog
you can catch my intro at kanika's blog right here