Gmail Signature now allows images!!

Gmail has launched its richmedia signature feature today, and I want to be among the firsts to use it!!

Ishqiya - i loved it

Generally watching a faded, pirated, dvd parlour-type copy of movie, with sleepy eyes can substantially diminish the enjoyment of the experience. Not so with Ishqiya. Its such a wonderful creation. During the first five minutes or so, when Vidya Balan is making rotis
for her thug husband, I thought this was not worth staying up. But starting from Arshad's
parrot joke right to the open ending, I was glued.
Khalujaan (Naseerudin shah) and Babban ( Arshad warsi ) make a nice funny pair. One charming and chivalrous, and the other a rough unshaven flirt. I think the casting for this movie was damn good. Imagine, if they had cast Amitabh and Abhishek instead ! Lolz.
I looooved Vidya Balan as Krishna. She has managed to look and act very alluring in whatever wardrobe they gave to her rustic widow character. And her role is also quite cool.

The best thing in the movie has to be the humour. Theres one episode in the movie about a cheating husband secretly meeting his chinky girlfriend that had us all in splits. God, it was so funny! I still laugh when I remember it. Also, the dialogues are very good.

Well, additionally, what makes this movie so good, is the collage of music, from old hindi songs to some original tracks. 'Dil toh baccha hai' is my favourite. But thankfully, 'Ibna batuta' was missing from my copy. (hehe)
All in all, Ishqiya was a pleasant surprise. Entertaining and memorable. Recommended.

Tanguy - French film

Hi,
I watched another flick francaise aujourd'hui, "Tanguy". Movie was moderately entertaining.
Heres the story :

Perpetual student Tanguy (Eric Berger) is a pleasant, maddeningly polite lad who speaks fluent Chinese and Japanese and teaches while working on his thesis. The brilliant young man advises a government minister when he's not exasperating his long-suffering mom, Edith (Sabine Azema), and dad, Paul (Andre Dussollier), by leaving dirty clothes, damp towels and crumbs in his wake, entertaining lady friends in his bedroom and otherwise treating his parents' lovely apartment like a hotel with room service.

Paul and Edith are desperate to enjoy an empty nest, but the couple had previously pampered their loving boy and can't bring themselves to tell him outright to please shove off.

When I came to know, that TV5Monde was going to play the movie, I decided to watch. The storyline seemed interesting. But it turned out to be less engaging than expected.

But anyways, as an Indian, the movie was somewhat of a culture clash. In the movie, the parents want the kid to move out. In India, the kids are dying to move out, but parents dont let them.

I was pleased to see an honest portrayal of parents though- they are human, and although they may love their kids more than anything else, they deserve a break. Lot of people, especially indians, dont realize that their Pa and Ma are individuals, and yes they are a couple, who needs their own privacy and space. Its not fair to expect them to sacrifice their happiness for you all the time.

Well, ofcourse, since its a comedy, the parents do some seriously weird things to shoo Tanguy out. Tanguy himself is irritating as hell. I couldnt see why he is shown as attractive. Anyways.

Decent movie.

Twelve and holding

Saw dis on UTV worldmovies today. This is the best portrayal i have seen of the "not-yet-adult-and-no-more-a-kid" phase of life. Found the kids very believable, especially loved Malee's part, reminded me of myself wen i was 12 :)

Likes

* I loved the way the director shows how sometimes parents act like kids while kids behave
sensibly. When Leonard goes on a healthy diet, his worried mom asks him if he has joined a cult.
Leo has to do something extraordinary to show his obese mom that shes slowly killing herself
with all that grease on her bread.

* Liked the sweet chinky girl's character., Malee. She is so mature and sensitive and yet innocent
enough to expect a relationship with a much older (but cute!) man. "But we are soulmates!"
she says when he rejects her . But I know, at that age, you dont realize that older guys see you as a kid.


DisLikes

* I hated Jacob's Mom. She actually wished her son's killer ( by accident ) dead, and is careless
enough to say that infront of her emotionally disturbed 12 yr old son. Parents can be dangerously clueless about the consequences of their words.
Plus, the adoption at a bad time.
-------------------------------------------
Somehow dis movie felt different than other coming-of-age movies - more real n therefore somewhat grim. The kids here are more like little adults, havin a mind of their own, but at the same time very naive. Definitely worth a watch.

Ma Vie En Rose - Sometimes you just have to be yourself

Yesterday I saw a great movie called 'Ma Vie En Rose'. I mean it was realllly good. Colourful, funny,moving, endearing...and also an eye-opener. Heres the story:

Ludovic is a young boy who can't wait to grow up to be a woman. When his family discovers the little girl blossoming in him they are forced to contend with their own discomfort and the lack of understanding from their new neighbors. Their anger and impatience cave and Ludovic is sent to see a psychiatrist in the hopes of fixing whatever is wrong with him. A movie that addresses trans-gender and gender issues in general through the eyes of a child.

Imagine if your family were to outcast you , and why? Not because you are a baddddd sheep, but simply because you are different from them... Poor you! I mean how cruel is that?, crucifying someone only because your mind is not broad enough to accomodate their offbeat ways.

Just how difficult is it to just let someone be?? Is it really a challenge to say that " I dont understand you, maybe I dont even like what you are doing. But hey, its your life and you have a right to your own choices, and I wont judge them."

The white ribbon

Hi
Last night I finally made some real good use of my free night-internet, by downloading 'The white ribbon'. I been taking a lot of interest in festival movies lately
and some good reviews aroused my interest in this one. Plus, its a film noir and a thriller.
Well then I had to watch it.

Its a striking movie. Theres so much to take in, and so much happening, that I am surprised
that some people called it slow. Its not boring at all. Heres the synopsis -

A village in Protestant northern Germany. 1913-1914. On the eve of World War I. The story of the children and teenagers of a choir run by the village schoolteacher, and their families: the baron, the steward, the pastor, the doctor, the midwife, the tenant farmers. Strange accidents occur and gradually take on the character of a punishment ritual. Who is behind it all? The village schoolteacher observes, investigates and little by little discovers the incredible truth. Are we being asked to consider whether these events heralded something that would explode years later with the rise of Nazi Germany? Did these events contain the germs of the tragedies that followed?

K, on with my comments :

Just today morning, in the loo ( where I seem to get my most thoughtful thoughts) I was wondering if the world was really a much safer, better place in the old times. Is the world today a big bad mean place or was it always like this, only in different ways?

Well, when you answer nature's call, God answers you. hee hee.

As I watched this movie, I felt grateful. Grateful that although today we have modern problems like global warming and the kind, people are so much more open-minded than they were before.
There is a scene in the movie where a very strict pastor forbids his son from masturbating , telling him he musnt harm "the finest nerves of his body" by touching areas where "God has
created sacred barriers". Then for some days the boys hands are always tied up at bedtime, to keep him away from "sin". How cruel it is to confuse kids and make them feel guilty like that about natural impulses. Jeeze! At another point in the movie you see the same kid walking
perilously over a narrow handbar of a high bridge. When caught and asked why, he replies "to give God a chance to kill me".

Such and many more disturbing things happen in "The White Ribbon". The black n white tone greatly enhances the sombre, ominous feel and adds to the grim blandness of the old-world protestant aunties with their hair tightly tied in buns. (What could be the mentality of the men who made their women dress like that! No ribbons, no bows, no frilly stuff. Huh?)

Its a good watch, but the only thing is that its open ended. You can only guess who
the culprit was, as nothing is really revealed. Did I mention that "The White Ribbon"
won the "Palm d'or" at Cannes?

La francaiseee!!

Since I started learning french, I have gotten into the habit of enjoying french TV, french comics, websites and ofcourse french movies. Its so cool that learning a new language opens up a whole
new world of art and literature for you, that you previously could'nt understand.

On my first visit to the alliance francaise library, I discovered a genre of comics that I had only heard of. Lolo et Sucette is a series of funny and sex-y 'Bandes dessinées' that showcase
the lives of two saucy hookers and the fun they have 'on the job' :) It was refreshing to read something that talks about sex, hookers and streetlife, in a light-wicked-wacky way 'nd without any sense of pointless taboo, plus the jokes and illustrations are really funny. Plus I learnt so many new words. Guess what "preservatif" means. hehe.

I am gonna look for other volumes of the series.

Next task in line is to look for some interesting "Bande-animes".

More on this in d next post