29 Palms : A comment

I watched this movie last night, and I am still feeling spaced-out :D Actually, I really liked the first half, which is all serene and normal
( I hadnt read many reviews...was watching it without much expectations). Nothing much happens, but its still good. I thought it was all
building up to something very interesting/moving/disturbing . I found
the couple kinduf interesting and sweet at first. But 70 mins into it,
I began to wonder, where exactly the film was going.

The one thing that disappointed and confused me was, how the bloody
climax, makes all the interesting little details of the relationship (
the ice-cream conversation, the late-nite fight, oral sex in pool,
David's stalking of katia etc ) seem irrelevant. The couple itself
doesn't seem normal, but I think the climax would have been the same,
irrespective of how normal/dysfunctional the couple was. An incident as
horrific as that, can make anyone go mad. 90% of the 114 mins , are
focused on their relationship, but the "horror element" which arrived
in the last 5-10 mins of the film, just comes out of elsewhere.

Sure the rape is horrible n humiliating, but it seemed to be there just
for shock value. Maybe, the director wanted to show how one random
horrific incident, can absolutely ruin everything...but if thats the
case then the duration of the film doesn't really make sense.

I think the makers have done a great job in building up the
suspense....but the wait is too long and wen the bad stuff happens its
weird. For me, the climax was neither shocking nor thought-provoking
(Everyone knows, man is capable of both savagery as well as
saintliness) , but just very very saddening. So this movie has left me
in a sad and confused state of mind.

Also, I dunno, why are movies like these, marketed as something they
are not. If you promise the viewers "a deliverance meets psycho", and
give them this movie, there are bound to be negative reviews. Even, the
original trailer tries to make the film look so eventful and
thrilling...lolz...I can understand why horror fans are pissed off.

Its NOT a bad movie, but I would'nt call it a horror film either... I
agree that the desert looks quite menacing, so OK that qualifies as a
"thriller" element. But there is a disjointedness to this movie, which
is why I wouldn't recommend it.

But if you like to watch slow, ambiguous movies and then dissect them
for symbols, hidden meanings etc..then go ahead. You just might like
it.

Buffet froid - french bizarre dark comedy

Hey,

Last night, I watched a french movie called "Buffet froid", which roughly translates into "A cold meal". I had the read the story behind the dvd, and expected it to be a goofy fun action-comedy.

But to my surprise, and I dint mind it, the movie was amusingly absurd n consistently funny. Every character is either a killer or gets killed. Its a quiet movie, most of it being shot in the night, in empty subways, deserted streets, and an almost-empty highrise. Gives it an urban-gothic touch. 20 mins into the movie, you realize that the movie is trying to say something abt the loneliness of city life, and how it seems to suck the meaning out of life. So much so that people are driven to do weird things.

For me the high point of the movie was the Gerard Depardieu. He was so cute when young, i found myself waiting for the camera to rest on his face, again n again :)

A good one.

Murder by Death

Lolz..Picked up this movie, thinking it to be french. Turned out to be a rather silly-cartoonish murder mystery, in English. The characters spoof well-known fictional detectives like Hercule Poirot,and Miss Marple. I could'nt recognize the others, ( guess I am really not that well-read..! )

Actually I quite liked the first-half of the movie, after which it began to get slightly tedious n unfunny. Most of the gags are quite good. A good whodunit timepass .

My 5 favourite cartoons!

I love cartoons! More than movies or music, and thats saying a lot . I think I appreciate cartoons more now that I have grown up, than when I was a kid. Cartoons, my friends, are a simple pleasure...no tears, only joy :)
Heres the countdown of my favourite cartoons, starting from the number 5!

5) Doraemon
This one is always predictable but enjoyable. Based in Japan, the main characters are a group of school-going kids - Nobita, Gian, Tombari, and Shizuka. Nearly every episode starts the boorish
Gian, alongwith his accomplice Tombari, bullying Nobita for some reason or the other. Nobita, the loser, comes crying home everytime, and asks Doraemon for a gadget to teach Gian a lesson.
After protesting for sometime and preaching the virtues of self-reliance, the cat gives in ( Doraemon is a cat-robot) and produces a miraculous gadget from his pocket and hands it to Nobita warning him againts its mis-use. Nobita then goes on to kick Gian's ass but then goes too far, and gets his own ass kicked.
Despite this fixed agenda, I find the show entertaining. The characters are funny, each in their own different way. I love the japanese setting and all that jappiness. I really wish I could have watched and understood it in the original language. Hmm. With every new gadget come new adventures and new jokes. I love those imaginative gadgets, lol..... they are just the kind of things I used to dream of when I was a kid.

4) Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries

Hehe...I havent seen this in a long while. I dont think it even airs anymore. But I remember the
black and white cat being so funny in his tireless efforts to catch hold of Tweety. And all this in the middle of solving mysteries with Granny, a lady detective somewhat like Agatha Christie's Miss Marple! I love mysteries, I love humour and thats what puts this show on my favourites list.


3) Kiteretsu
This ones similar to Doraemon, but in my opinion, simply better. First of all I prefer Kiteretsu's look and feel to that of Doraemon. While 'Doraemon' is colourful and glossy, Kiteretsu's scenes looks like a drawing, which gives it a charming worn-out feel like that of an old paper. I also prefer the characters. While Nobita of Doraemon is a cry-baby, Kiteretsu is a clever, sensible and cute little genius. The other characters are also very similar, making me think that both the shows must have originated from the same script. In fact I just now googled it and found this .

2) Scooby Doo
I absolutely adore this one. One of the funniest things I have ever seen. I love dogs, I love mysteries, I love stories with ghosts and graveyards and detectives, and this one has it all. Plus its so damn silly and funny. And scooby doo is so cute, with his strange shaky voice. I remember returning from school and getting glued to TV, when this used to air. The first time I saw Shaggy, I swear I thought the character was a beggar. Lol..So unkempt he looks. Some episodes, even has Scooby Doo's nephew, Scrappy Doo, a lively and brave puppy, trying to walk in the footsteps on his uncle, whom he believes to be, well, a hero.
The best part of every episode is the chase with the ghost chasing Scooby and Shaggy, and the other kids chasing the 'ghost', and all the slapstick comedy that ensues.
In the end, it always turns out that, the ghost/vampire/witch/whatever is a villain with a mask.
If I had to create an animated series, this is the kind of thing I would make. I dont know why Cartoon network discontinued it, but I hope I can get my hands on all the episodes on the net. Torrents, Torrents.



1) Shin-Chan

What do I say about Shin-Chan. Love him, hate him, you cant ignore him. Rather he wont let you
ignore him, with his..err..extraordinary antics. I enjoy watching this so much. I especially love the episodes where Shin-Chan is with his other little buddies.

Mini's first time

My sister was out on a trip last nite and I had the living room television all to myself. Great! I took the opportunity to make it one of those fun nights, when I can enjoy a late night movie, all alone. I love nightly solitude . I was in a darkish mood, and I wanted to savour it with a dark atmospheric thriller. Too bad, there was no chocolate icecream ( or grape
juice.......or red wine ) to add to my pleasure.

Well, after surfing through all the western movie channels, the final choice had to be made between "Mini's first time" and"Hidden" ( Originally titled "Oculto"), a spanish flick. The former won coz it was airing at an earlier hour.So, I settled for a 'dark comedy' rather than a real thriller.

My choice, wasnt bad. Hmm.. but from the first scene itself, there was a sense of deja vu...teenage sex-bombs as reckless femme fatales, LA mansions, dysfunctional families, whorish moms... we have seen it all, havent we? I kept feeling that I was watching some sequel of Wild things. Right from the beginning, I knew the guilty party is going drive away scot-free, and
guess what, I was right. Its a formula flick guys. But, a formula that I often enjoy.

Did I mention the plot? Here it is.
"Desperate to be free from her drunken, unloving mother Diane, the beautiful, scheming young Mini seduces her stepfather Martin and soon convinces him to join her in a sadistic scheme to have Diane declared insane. But their conspiracy soon escalates to murder and when John Garson, a young detective starts investigating, Martin and Mini begin to turn on each
other."

I was amused to the see the contrasting reviews of this movie on Imdb. Half of the people loved it, and other half puked over
it. I think both the kinds took it more seriously than it deserves.

I think the title of misused. Mini's philosophy of life is that one should always look for new experiences, and she loves doing things for the "very first time!!" what fun! But I hardly saw her doing that. Basically, its just a convenient excuse, to explain WHY our rich and spoiled Mini would be choose to become an escort. I liked the confidence of the lead character. Shes really smart and seems to enjoy her life. Shes bold, brash and sexy, but the predictability of the movie, doesnt let her go above that. This is where I was disappointed with the movie. With all those high-profile actors and gloss, i wish, they had tried to give a real twist and twang to the story/formula, rather than showing the same rountine.

Btw, The lead actress, Nikki Reed, looked so much like Shakira. But body-wise, shes not close to the bellydancing pop star.But shes hot alrite, I think she was fine for the role. She somehow looks refreshingly different from other actresses, and shes hot in a healthy n real way. No bones or boob-job. Good.


Having said all this, I still found it entertaining. Well, maybe I should mention that "Poison Ivy" is one of my favourite films, and that one made me a Drew fan for life. But that was 1992, and the Drew movie was classy and...truly sexy. This is 2010, and wild things have become so common. Mini is passable entertainment :)

Beautiful photography

Hi
Was browsing deviantart.com just now. Wow! Deviants come up with such beautiful stuff.
With photography and photoshop, an " ordinary " scene is transformed into something
fantastic. See this...its lovely...i love the way the colours just jump out in these pics.


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Soft blur on my pic

Heya, Check out the magic of soft blur!! It creates a dreamy, soft look, ideal for portraits...