[Movies] Broken Flowers

"Broken Flowers" stars Bill Murray as Don Johnston(who's almost like Don juan), a man who made his money in computers and now doesn't even own one. a movie that i picked up from my DVD rental place thinking this might be a fun movie... only to realise it is a sober serious one... and well, after seeing it, i really dont know if i liked it, thot it was wierd but it is off beat and interesting...

Don, would not do anything that would have him move from his sofa, where he is almost stuck. His latest girlfriend (Julie Delpy) has decided to move out, and after she leaves, he remains on the sofa, listening to music or surfing thru tv channels.. you almost hold your breath waiting for him to make the next move..hehe... He even reaches for the glass of wine, changes his mind, lets it be..

The only time he gets out is to go to his neighbor Winston (Jeffrey Wright)'s house. that man, i tell u is amazing... his mind is working all the time.. go-getter,african, who supports a wife and five kids with about 3-4 jobs, and beyond that has time to surf the net as an amateur detective. In the mail, Don receives a pink envelope with a letter saying that about 20 years ago he fathered a son, and that a 19yr old boy might come looking for him.

Don couldnt care two hoots, but Winston is all excited, he devices a plan thru which Don can make a list of all the women he was with around that time and they can track who it is..and then he says Don shd visit all the ladies, see if they have a son, or a typewriter cos Winston is convinced the letter was done on a typewriter and if the lady has a love for PINK color.. he gives DON a file with dates, itinerary, flight tickets,maps, addresses, hotel room bookings, car rental info, and everything.. all don has to do is pay for the tickets and make his way to meet the women...

"The letter is on pink stationery," Winston says. "Give them pink flowers and watch their reaction." Don nods, barely, and embarks on his journey... At one point he phones Winston from the road, complaining that he has a weird car that doesn't suit his personality... Why couldn't he have a Porsche? "I'm a stalker in a Taurus" he says... ;)

First stop, Laura (Sharon Stone), who says she works helping people organise their cupboards.... Her husband was a NASCAR champion, but "died in a wall of flame." Her daughter (Alexis Dziena), who is named Lolita, offers Don her Popsicle and, unmistakably, herself. A strange mom daughter duo, they just seem to get by everyday the same way, with no fixed agenda... Don ends up spending the night with Laura but next morning gets into his car and leaves...

Second stop is at Dora's (Frances Conroy) who with hubby Ron (Christopher McDonald) is a into real estate. Don stays for dinner there, but gets into a kinda spat with Ron and so departs from there...

Third woman, Dr. Carmen (Jessica Lange), who is protected by her assistant... Carmen is an "animal communicator," who talks to people's animals, and conveys the msg to their owners... The best part is when a cat strolls in thru the window, sits next to her and purrs something.. Don looks at Carmen asking, "Is he saying something?" and Carmen replies "He says you have a hidden agenda." whoa.. talk about psychic thinking... :P .. he tries to get her to have lunch or coffee and she says she doesn't eat or drink.. yea,go figure.. is not married and loves her job.. she goes back to her clinic n Don has no choice but to move on..

The fourth woman, Penny (Tilda Swinton) lives in a dump, where Don sees many motorcycles, and two men giving him "the killer looks"... this is where he sees pink slippers n a pink typewriter.. which prompts him to ask her "do you have any children" when she loses her temper... those mean guys come over n give Don a punch or two leaving him out in the car in the field.. oh,well..

There was a fifth lady, but she has passed away, nevertheless Don picks up beautiful pink flowers and visits her grave site... and finally returns home... where he sees a boy lurking about on the bus station and again on the street while he was having coffee .. "could that be his son?", he goes after the boy, and gives him something to eat and drink.. before he can talk..the boy runs away....

the movie leaves you wondering if that was his son... what was happening.. how did Don have so many girlfriends, all of whom were happy to see him except the last one... Bill Murray is simply amazing... from doing nothing to meeting his ex girlfriends, to spending time with their husbands, getting hit by a girl''s friends... he is perfect for the role..

:) happy watching... watch it to see how different the movie is...

Kannamoochi Enada - hide n seek.. duh~!!

Director - Priya V
Producer - UTV, Radaan, Pyramid
Music - Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cast - Satyaraj, Radhika, Pritviraj, Sandhya n trillion otherzzzzz

The story is nothing new.. nothing fancy... the same ol.. but done by couple of new faces... its all about what happens when Deva (Sandhya) brings home her new "boy" friend Harish ( by Prithviraj, he's super cute) to meet her parents and try getting their approval... duh... can you get more original???

her father Arumugam,a cop (sathyaraj in his full form) has made up his mind that Harish is a criminal who's tricked his daughter....

Now, what followed was what baffled me the most.. why on earth would i spend a load of bucks to watch a movie that rips off scenes from Hollywood flicks?? instead they might as well make a movie that says -scene1 , scene 2, and so on.. u get my drift right??? this movie has swiped scenes from "Guess who", infact they might as well have dubbed that movie in tamil, for all i care... movie makers think audiences are STUPID.. they pay hundreds of rupees, 3hours of their precious time for wat????

Grrrr... just seeing the scenes had me pissed off n wanting to get out of the theater n demand a refund... why on earth do they make such movies.. hype it so much... and then dampen our spirits.... grrrrr all over again... :)

Here's how this movie unfolded...
The film opens in Malaysia where the two, shifts to Chennai, and then moves to Ooty n then a bit in pollachi(i know all this cos i saw Coffee wiht anu where the team shared their experiences..lolz) .

Trying to be a comic entertainer, there are loads of slapstick comedy and some over-the-top performances by Satyaraj and Prithviraj with their buffoonery, they look more like clowns in a gone wrong kinda circus.

Radha ravi and his "god knows who she is" wife are the family that Prithviraj has, since his folks passed away.. and they are full of "we are brahmins", wont talk to others, kinda crap.. puhleasee... not today..... people have moved on... so,anyways, when they come to know of his lve with Sandhya, who is "not a brahmin" , they threaten to disown him.. and he walks outta home,takes his friends help to travel with sandhya to india.. and then suddenly somewhere down the movie, Radharavi n wifey are back in india, and ready to welcome him back into their family... all this after he tries to sabotage Prithivraj- sandhya relationship by telling tales to satyaraj... Duh.. are we like stupid to buy this sudden change of mind? where? how? what happened that radha ravi changed his mind???? phew....

Prithviraj is stereotyped and repetitive in his actions, somebody give him a role other than being a chocolate lover boy.... and getting him to speak the Brahmin lingo is putting a bit too much of a strain on him. Sandhya, i liked, but again she had traces of other actresses like Jyo.. a 1st movie of hers i am watching, so she was good... getting down to our famous "Sripriya" (she plays Satyaraj's twin sister) n screams, squeaks and some more.. ufff..

A bit of sensible acting comes from Radhika(she looks gorgeous) as Satyaraj's wife. she has come out well in the scene where, under the influence of a drug(that satyaraj uses to try to get Prithviraj to spill his brains out), she blurts out some home truths to the consternation of her husband. oh,well, all in all, a movie that you are not likely to miss too much if you dint watch... :)

Priya's debut 'Kanda Naal Mudhal' was a fun, classy, sensibly made film. 'Kannamoochi yenada' is a bit of a downer...think she tried to experiment with something new, but dint really understand it or couldnt express it as well....

oh,well, if you still wanna go watch it.. to quench your curiosity.. go ahead... but you owe me a treat afterwards ;)

November fest... Take 4.. grand finale

Sunday was the last concert in the november fest, and we were all looking fwd to it.. that afternoon we had a readmeet(where people who enjoy reading,writing meet up and exchange ideas,works,etc etc).. when i mentioned i was going for the Take 4 concert, most were stumped, they were all amazed that i got tickets...

anyways... got back home around 5... changed, got ready, and dad said he will drop us at Music academy.. sis tagged along...
we reached the venue at 6.30, saw a long queue, the longest we have seen so far... and we sat in the downstairs area , at a higher priced seating(this was only bcos i coudnt get the 100Rs tickets, and i so wished i was sitting upstairs....) saw a couple of familiar faces... n finally it was 7.10... waiting with bated breath... curtains went up and all one could hear was the audience clapping...

on stage were Trilok Gurtu and Selvaganesh... they rocked the stage for a while. later on joined by Prasanna who played a composition.. and then finally Vikku vinayakram came .... man, it sure was the best concert ever.. altho Prasanna's guitar dint quite gel with the others n he had too many issues regarding the sound system... uff.. had us all frustrated....

But Trilok n selva had the audience rocking, clapping, singing, going wiht the beat... it was sheer adrenalin rush for the 3hrs... yep, the concert was extra long... and finally, wen i was time for curtains to come down.. we got another surprise,.. Sivamani who'd been in the audience went up to felicitate the players... following this, we all wanted an encore... and asked sivamani to play too. for which Trilok came up with a retort "did u guys pay for us to play or siva to perform" and all of us were like "for all of you".... :)


and they obliged n played a piece.. wat an evening it was... awesome~~~ now,waiting for Feb, for the Shakti foundation concert...

here is more abt the trooop --http://www.thehindu.com/novemberfest/takefour.htm

the review in today's Hindu - http://www.hindu.com/mp/2007/11/20/stories/2007112050190500.htm

November fest... The Forest- Lim

When we were sitting for mrigya concert, mom saw the paper with info abt all bands n said the korean one looks interesting.. so went n picked up tickets.. it was for the `17th November~~

The day was like every other day.. worked a bit during the day.. extra diff was went out to have lunch with friend... got back home.. and headed for Music academy... once again we got our front row seats... saw a lot of familiar faces.. a good sign ;)

and finally The Forest came on stage... again on time... wowwieeee~!!!

To be called 'contemporary' and 'traditional' in the same breath seems a contradiction of sorts. But when the crossover happens effortlessly, the effect is magical! Founded in 2001, ‘The Lim’ or ‘The Forest’ became the first Korean band to skilfully merge the harmonies of traditional Korean music with the more eclectic sounds of contemporary rhythms.

Calling themselves a ‘traditional crossover band’, ‘The Forest’ presents music that is refreshingly original. The natural howl of the traditional wooden instruments mask the more metallic sounds of modern electronic instruments, which in turn, lend power to the traditional lyrical instruments.

The Forests' music is beautiful... soothing.. reflective....and harmonic, light and tripping and dynamic and powerfully layered. There are pieces like ‘Way Home’ and ‘Rain Runs’ that make one feel as if one was deep inside a forest while ‘Pan Project 2’ and ‘Prism’ has the feel of listening to a full orchestra... the kind of sounds that resonate from their simple wooden instruments is stunning. their 2nd song was Spring dance which was played wiht a difference.. the guy on drums, disappeared n suddenly we heard the sound of a diff kind of drum from somewhere in the auditorium, dint know where.. and then saw him strutting down with this big drum between his legs.. he then got on the stage n had the audience clapping to his beats...sensational...

The Forest consists of == acoustic guitar; the bass guitar, the piano, the synthesiser, an accordion(played by the girl who had us enchanted with the piano); ; traditional Korean wind instruments such as the Sogeum, Danso, Daegeum, Taepyungso(kinds of flutes) and the trumpet(all played by one guy..he was simply out of the world) ; the two-string fiddle or the Haegeum(something that was so small created quite a bit of music, and played by a petit girl); and the 12-string zither or Gayageum(this was sensational..kinda like a harp lying down, and played so gently by another lady... the way her fingers danced on the strings was a sight worth watching).

the music was so pleasant and transported us to the forest, calm waters and made us visualise the morning sun... absolutely wonderful and i was so glad i went... :)

For more indepth info about the group - http://www.thehindu.com/novemberfest/korean.htm

For info abt traditional korean instruments -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sogeum

their review in today's hindu - http://www.hindu.com/mp/2007/11/19/stories/2007111951250800.htm
:)

November Fest.. Mrigya

There was news of the November fest in the papers about a month ago and i wanted to go for a couple of them concerts ....

And finally decided to check out 2 that i knew were good.. infact for One i got rave reviews from a friend i the USA, who was going to be in India in nov and was like "i think i'll book tickets for Mrigya, i shall come down for it, they are awesome".. he was ready to come down just for Mrigya concert.. whoa, they must be good, i thot to myself.. :).... the other one i had decided on was Take 4 which was to be on 18th Nov, the last day... :)

time went by, and then came,16th November and i was excited as i was going for a concert after a long time... went with mom, we reached the venue around 6.45, show was at 7.15.. exchanged my print out for tickets and got into our seats... managed to find front row seats in the upstairs hall, cos this way i get enuf leg room..else will have to get squished n that is not fun,esp spending 2hrs like that.. no sire.. no thank you :)

anyways... clock was ticking.. and on the dot at 7.14 the MC came onto the stage and gave a mini speech, welcomed the band and left the stage.. wow, a concert..starting on time..awesomee.... :)

The band was on stage... about 6 of them, with just one lady.... i was impressed~~ she was the vocalist

They started off with a melodius number, think it was called Ganga, and then went on to play nearly 10-12 songs... each of them was a new experience... there was a sufi singer, who also belted out an amazing Qawali that has us all in splits... finally it was 9.15 and they wrapped it up with one of their Rock-carnatic fusion numbers called Catch theone which was mind blowing....

For a band to have played their instruments continuously for nearly 10mins was something that one needs to witnesss and hear to feel it.. they just rocked the whole auditorium... we couldnt stop tapping our feet, or clapping our hands...

and then finally, the time came to say bye.. but we all requested for one more track.. and they sweetly obliged, and played our infamous number "Mast kalander" which wrapped up the adrelin pumped lively exciting nite... and we got back home.. Gosh, what an evening it was... now i shall make sure to chk out their songs, and maybe pick up the cd..

A bit about Mrigya,--- a unique fusion band from Delhi which presents a rich blend of blues, funk, latino and Indian Classical music. Mrigya stretches the boundaries of music with a sound that unites the world as one family, a philosophy which is demonstrated in the term “Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam”. Mrigya became the first Indian band to get a 4 star rating with the Scotsman at the 2001 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. This is an experience not to be missed!

Looking fwd to tomorrow - The forest, a korean band and day after is the grand finale wiht Take 4 - Trilok Gurtu, vikku vinayakram,Prasanna, and Selvaganesh – Indian Fusion ...

You can listen to some of Mrigya's stuff on youtube, here is one....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7AhdcM529I&feature=related

:) Aaarti - A very happy music lover...