[Movies] Offbeat

I buy dvd's, and yes, some are good, whilst others are bad!! I dont read ahead of the shopping expedition... Infact,very rarely do i know what i am going to Buy..

I BUY ---

If the name looks interesting

If the cover is appealing

If i like one of the actors

If i get a gut feel about the movie

If  its a movie someone has reccomended [ these are few and far between] :)

In the latest batch, i had bought this movie called Funny Games... and went on to watch the movie,..

 Director: Michael Haneke

Writer: Michael Haneke (written by)

Cast
    * Naomi Watts as Ann
    * Tim Roth as George
    * Michael Pitt as Paul
    * Brady Corbet as Peter
    * Devon Gearhart as Georgie
    * Boyd Gaines as Fred

 The movie opens with George, his wife Anna, their son Georgie and  dog Lucky arriving at their lake house. Their next-door neighbor pays a visit, accompanied by two young men, Peter and Paul, whom he introduces as friends. The two men begin imposing themselves by coming over asking for eggs, breaking batch after batch, eventually a frustrated Anna demands that the men leave, asking George to get them out. What happens next is what baffled me... Peter breaks George's leg with George's golf club and the two men take the family hostage. 

They force the family to participate in a number of ugly sadistic games in order to stay alive. When some of the other neighbors arrive for a visit, Anna passes the men off as friends until the visitors leave. How they torture the couple, playing mind games with them has us cringing, wondering what is going to happen next!!! One by one, they kill the members of the family, starting with the dog, the last victim being Anna!!! 

It's a thriller movie but very different from the run of the mill ones. Sort of satire, I think. If you're sick and tired of de'ja`vu film-making this one is just for you. 

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The 2nd movie- Ghosts of Girlfriends Past we saw at my friend Anita's place post the yummy Potluck lunch.... 

Director: Mark Waters

Cast:
    * Matthew McConaughey as Connor Mead

    * Jennifer Garner as Jenny Perotti

    * Michael Douglas as Wayne Mead aka Uncle Wayne

    * Emma Stone as Allison Vandermeersh, the Ghost of Girlfriends Past

    * Daniel Sunjata as Brad

    * Noureen DeWulf as Melanie, the Ghost of Girlfriends Present and Connor's assistant

    * Breckin Meyer as Paul Mead
    * Lacey Chabert as Sandra Volkom
    * Anne Archer as Vonda Volkom

    * Amanda Walsh as Denice
    * Camille Guaty as Donna

I wouldnt call it a Chick flick.

Nor a romcom.. romantic comedy flick

hmmm.. what can we call it??? i dunno!!! 

Connor Mead, the playboy hops from one woman to the other, leaving behind quite a trail of unhappy women... The day he goes to attend his brother Paul's wedding rehearsal dinner , the complete world comes toppling down... Meeting Jenny [the one woman in his life who has always seemed immune to his considerable charm.] after all this time, trying to keep his lusting thots to himself, he finds he is given one last chance by his late Uncle Wayne [who tells him its not too late to change]... He meets one Ghost after another, who take him thru his life, starting with childhood to the future.... 

Through the journey, Connor realises this is the only chance he is going to get, and finally decides to confess his love to Jenny ... The world is then set right and all are happy!!! 

A movie that would have been fun had it not been stretched so much.. it just goes on and on and on and on............................ watch it if you have NOTHING else to do!!!  :)

[Movie] Masilamani

Maasilamani by RNR Manohar

Starring- : Nakul, Sunaina, Pavan, Karunas, Santhanam, M S Bhaskar, Raj Kapoor, Santhana Bharathi, Delhi Ganesh and many others.

Music: Imman

The movie opens with Nakul chasing a man down the streets and getting sentenced to fine or term in jail. Masilamani [Nakul], living in Rani Anna Nagar is not the usual romeo or run of the mill hero. He is a social activist goes after anyone who does wrong, be it a case of eve teasing on the bus, cheating an old couple in a property sale or chain snatching. One day, he catches sight of Divya [Sunaina] confronting some guys who tease her students, and in the process he falls head over heels in love with her.

However, the hunky dory romance hits a dead end the day he causes mayhem at her dance concert, when all he wanted was to meet their area MLA requesting for assistance in clearing up a sewage problem. One look at his angry face and Divya lables him "Rowdy" . She mistakes his character and assumes he is a crook, despising him from that minute on!

Invariably from thereon, everytime their paths cross it is when he is beating someone up or chasing a thief. He even jokes to her about this. Knowing there is no way Divya will love Masi, he adorns the role of Mani, a soft spoken sophisticated guy.

With the help of his two friends, he stages the whole drama and wins over Divya's family and subsequently her as well. This is where,Bhupathi [Pavan] comes into town taking over as the Sub Inspector of Ashok nagar police station. After a run in with Masi, he vows revenge, but is left confused whenever he tries to prove Masi and Mani are one! Infact, the residents of Rani Anna Nagar, where Masi resides come together to establish that Mani is different from Masi. The day Divya decides to test him, a simple text message has his friends jumping into action and helping him strengthen ties with Divya!! It is one amazing scene that leaves us all stumped. So, is the one at the hospital when Bhupathi brings in the Masi's sister's daughter, while Masi is pretending to be Mani and the way the situation is handled deserves a lot of praise.

As the movie progresses, Divya comes to know that indeed Masi and Mani are one. She must now decide who she loves and if she will marry Masilamani!

Laced with sharp dialogues, plenty of action, and romance, the movie goes on tell the tale of how Masi as Mani convinces Divya he is a good samaritan and truly loves her. The entire plot has been beautiful crafted by the director and executed very well by Nakul and rest of the Rani Anna Nagar residents!

With every scene, Nakul has proved that he can act, dance, do comedy and is good at it. Suniana looks beautiful, and there is a certain grace in her acting as well. In certain scenes, she does come acrss flat, but overall good performance. Bhaskar , Santhanam, Karnas and Srinath provide just the right amount of comedy, without going overboard!!

Music by Imman is enjoyable, especially ‘Odi Odi’ track, it is quite a peppy number. The other songs have variety and vigour to keep the audiences glued to the seats; however all of them are a tad too long. Song locations and cinematography was good.

All in all, Masilamani is a romantic thriller, filled with intense moments and rib tickling comedy!!

[Movie] Monsters VS Aliens

A movie for kids...

hang on, thats not right...

A movie for kids and adults and everyone else who loves animated stuff... :)

A movie that must be seen in 3D..

Saw it in 2D format in Bombay, and then when i saw it last evening in 3D style here in Chennai, i realised its gotta be seen this way...

Wearing the cool 3D glasses, watching the characters come alive, the effects, the dust...absolutely amazing!! I was excited, more than my friend or her 4 year old son!!! :D

Btw, this was my 2nd 3D experience!!  :)

Whats the movie about?

Its about Monsters [ who are chemically modified normal people and insects] battling to save the world from the invasion of Aliens [ Ruled by Galaxor].. A movie that has all that it takes to keep us glued to our seats, is fun, serious., thrilling., hilarious, nail biting and some more!!!

It all starts when Susan [ voice by Reese Witherspoon] is hit by a  radioactive meteor on her wedding day... She transforms into a towering, giant and is then captured and taken to a place where there are other wierd/odd creatures. Re-christened as "Ginormica," Susan meets amphibious Missing Link (Will Arnett), the green blob B.O.B. (Seth Rogen), and the brilliant, genius Doc, Dr. Cockroach (Hugh Laurie). 

They are all released from captivity when a massive alien robot sent by the scheming Gallaxor (Rainn Wilson) sets foot in San Francisco.  with time, Susan starts loving her new friends, the power she has and works towards saving the world from the alien... in the process, she learns the truth about Derek, the man of her dreams [ atleast thats what she was thinkin till she realised he was just a selfish jerk!!] 

The way the movie has been made is what sets it apart from others!!

Do watch it to enjoy every scene.. every move... every fight... every funny moment!!! :)

[Books] To read....

A friend of mine mentioned this book was recommended at her book club....

Speaking of India: Bridging the Communication Gap When Working With Indians by Craig Storti....

Interesting title.... anyone read it???

 

 

 

[Movie] Women and life...

Last week was hectic.... or was it the week before? Nah, i think every week is almost the same story...

Work...Home.. chores... cooking,etc... and well, tonnes of fun weaved between all this!!

Saw 2 beautiful interesting movies... actually saw 3, but this post is about 2.. both related to WOMEN...!! :)

1st one was an Israeli movie called Aviva, My love!  [me and a friend of mine caught this at the South India Film chamber]

Aviva --

Works in a hotel, yearns to write, jots down ideas on a small writing pad

Takes care of her family

Puts up with her jobless husband,

who, she loves, but has been cheating on her [with her own sister]

Cares about her sister and 

wants her away from her abusive husband

[knows she still is secretly in love with her ex boyfriend]

Aviva--

Takes her writing to a famous writer [or rather once upon a time famous, Oded]

Tells her, - he will sell her stories as his

in exchange for a decent sum of money....!!! [ the f@$%  B!@%#] 

A son, confused and lost

A daughter, stubborn but sweet

Another son, glued to the TV....

Aviva ---

Dealing with a psychotic mom

a dad who loves her, but is not respected 

[cos he once cheated on her mom]

A doctor who says -" let me look at you"

in exchange for not being able to pay for her son's treatment...

Finally... Aviva -

The woman, who takes charge of her life

The woman, who finds joy in writing

The woman, who is loved and respected by her family......!!!

 =============================

2nd Movie - The Guitar

The movie by Amy Redford [Robert Redford's daughter] slides through the journey of this one woman - Melody "Mel" Wilder!!! She is diagnosed with a terminal illness, given 2months to live, fired from the job, dumped by the boyfriend. ... 

What does she do ?

Leaves her home... Moves into an expensive Loft apartment for 2mths [on rent], shops like crazy[ all from the comfort of her new home], buys the most expensive materials, fabric, clothes,and everything else you can dream off!!!

Makes friends with Rosco, the delivery man and Cookie, Pizza girl... What follows are the scenes filled with plenty of lovemaking..[all candlelight and exotic linens galore] ....... Melody doesn't connect to people as much as she does to her most extreme purchase -- a red electric guitar she's longed for since her unhappy childhood (shown thru streaks of  flashbacks) .... With sudden realization of how much time has gone by, Melody visits the doc where she discovers-- Thanks to her complete transformation[of life], the tumor knows not where it lives and has gone away..............!! Oh shit, What happens to melody? What does she do with all the stuff? the payments??? watch the movie to know!!! :D

[Music] Jazz all the way!!

Louis Armstrong.... Ella Fitzgerald.. John Coltrane.... Duke Ellington are some of the famous Jazz musicians i had heard of...  here are a few more i shall be adding to this list.... 

 

On Friday, we went for a Jazz concert at Museum Theater, Egmore...  Though the show started few minutes late, it was well worth the wait... 

1. Chennai based Yodhaka 

They were into fusion jazz, using Sanskrit slokas as the base.. very nice, melodious and rhythmic.... Loved the voice of the lead singers- Subiksha and Pradeed[who also played the slide guitar..]

  

Towards the end of their performance, Pradeep belted out the famous Mudakaratha modakam[ ganesha slokha]- it was truly soulful...!!! 

2. All the way from Baltimore - Duende Quartet

The four wizards of LATIN JAZZ had us enthralled for over an hour, leaving the audience wanting for more.. the only hitch [ nothing to do with the performance] was the sudden chill within the auditorium.. The Air conditioner was either working full swing or something was up.. we were all nearly freezing in there... :)

Apparently they were the winners from a whole bunch of people who vyed for the post of being a jazz group... Not only did they get to play here in chennai, they are on a world tour ... Fronted by Latin Grammy winning pianist Harry Appelman, the quartet includes bassist Josh Schwartzman and percussionists Mark Merella and Sam Turner ........

Sam is the one who remains in our minds even after the show is over - not just because he was black/Jamaican but he had the audience clapping, tapping their feet, singing along[ words that sounded like chants] till the end of the show... I guess that is the difference between an artist and a showman.... how involved the audience gets with them!!! :)

On Saturday, after a mini meeting with the Caferati clan, i headed over to Citi center for a bit of Jazz and some retail fun ;)

3. The Ellington Suites [Netherlands] 
 

Eight member team, named after the famous Duke Willington's album performed for free at Citi center lobby.. [Thanks to Landmark ]. Saxaphone, Clarinet, Drums, Bass guitar and another instrument that i dont know the name for was what they used to create music....

What a weekend it was....

50th post -- Movie spree continues....

Yayyy, just discovered this is my 50th post in this blog!!! :)

The past 2 months i've been watching movies like crazy... Every night before sleeping, i grab a movie and then zzzz.... Some are big award winning ones and others are unheard of , but nevertheless Good movies... here are some more i feasted on...

Vicky Cristina Barcelona-

The one for which Penelope Cruz won a Best Supporting Actress award... wonder why though!!! 

A movie set in Spain, is about two gals who go on a vacation... end up spending time with a casanova, and finally get to meet his estranged wife and its one big Sex based trip.... As the movie's title suggests, it's about Barcelona[ the town] as well as Vicky and Cristina[ the two friends].

The places, tour given of Barcelona... amazing acting by all the women are what leaves an impression.. For those, who are against sex, explicit scenes in movies, this might not be their cuppa tea...!!!

August Rush

A movie i picked up in Pondy... its about a kid who is a musical prodigy, in search of his biological parents!!! the only familiar faces in this movie was Johnathan Rys Meyers[ the hot looking hunk from Bend it Like Beckham] and the infamous Robin Williams...

Evan Tyler flits about from one home to the other and ends up with Robin Williams where he starts playing the Guitar in new ways and ends up in the park earning a living...He is also on a quest to find his parents... The blending of classical, rock and street-sounds music was phenomenal. The movie was funny, poignant and a tear jerker.... Must watch!!!

Tropic Thunder

 

This movie is sheer time pass, ahem, there were some scenes where i was bored and almost switched off the dvd... Borrowed the dvd from a friend , and thought why not!!! Glad i dint shell out $$ to buy this movie... And i have no clues why and how Robert Downing Jr was even nominated for the movie.. Arrrgh!!! silly ass movie produced by Ben Stiller simply isnt worth it...

The film stars Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey, Jr. as a group of prima donna actors making a Vietnam War film when their fed-up writer and director decides to drop them in the middle of a jungle, forcing them to portray their roles without the comforts of a film set.

It is a satirical comedy about movies in Hollywood and takes a lot of patience to sit through.... but if you like wierd wacko stuff,go ahead.... :)

Small Change [Argent de poche, L'] 

The movies opens to kids running down the narrow lanes in France , and with every turn, more kids join them and finally they all rush like water down the river towards the school..  The movie is all about the kids finding their ground, a Single mother looking for her Mr Right and so much more..

It is also the best film from the group of “new wave” directors of the ’60s, including Truffaut and fellow movie critic turned filmmaker, Jean Luc Goddard.  

Small Change is not a single story, but a series of stories from a small town in France. It is shot in a naturalistic style, with naturalistic acting. Truffaut was famous for taking non-actors and making them actors. I guess you could call him the original actor’s director. The man had a way of coaxing a good performance out of his child actors that is truly astounding.It’s multiple stories, about multiple people, and their interaction inside this small town. The child actors are superb, as are the adults.

The Women

The movie i saw last night is about 4 best friends and how their lives change when they discover an ugly secret about one of their spouses..Upon seeing the name Meg Ryan i told my friend, i wanna watch this, am taking it with me... :)

 This is what is called a Chick flick... all women..[kinda like a diff version of Sex and the city]. A high flying corporate executive, a mother of 4, expecting her 5th child[Debra Messing says - she will try try till she gets a baby boy], a lesbian who flaunts her model girlfriend and a wife who is more than happy to sit back and let the world go by..  A fun movie with various splashes of emotions thrown in.. a mother who tells her daughter to not do anything when she finds out about her husband's affair, a manicurist who loves to gossip [ using whom the women turn tables around and reunite the couple] and the final scene where Debra is ready to deliver the baby and all the women are in the labour room is just wacko...awesome.. hilarious... and voila, she has a baby boy!!!!

I wouldnt say this is a must watch, but watch it if you have the time and someone lends you the Dvd!!  :)

Phew.... gonna sign off now... i think there are a few more i dint mention.. will come back for another one!!!anybody got a drink??? ;)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button....

I had been getting mixed reviews about this movie, only my friend Anita had said its a good movie, watch it, i know you will like it... :) our tastes do match!!! Anyways, reached Satyam around 6.40 and made our way inside and eagerly waited for the movie.. I had no clues about the movie, hadnt heard the story or anything...

A movie that  is a narration, kind of a flash back through Benjamin's diaries helps us relive his days in this world.. For an english movie, it is quite long..nearly 2 .40 hours, but the time goes by, not a moment of it is boring [ except for the silly Interval with the annoying ads...]...  

The Cast includes.......... 

 Benjamin Button - Brad Pitt
Daisy - Cate Blanchett
Queenie - Taraji P. Henson
Caroline - Julia Ormond
Thomas Button - Jason Flemyng
Tizzy - Mahershalalhashbaz Ali
Captain Mike - Jared Harris
Monsieur Devereux - Elias Koteas
Grandma Fuller - Phyllis Somerville
Elizabeth Abbott - Tilda Swinton
Preacher - Lance Nichols
Ngunda Oti - Rampai Mohadi
Daisy age 7 - Elle Fanning
Daisy age 10 - Madisen Beaty

Benjamin's diary recounts his entire extraordinary life, the primary unusual aspect of which was his aging backwards, being born an old man who was diagnosed with several aged diseases at birth and thus given little chance of survival, but who does survive and gets younger with time.... 

Set in 1920s, around the time when World War I ends, its a tale about a baby[Benjamin] born with diseases and looks like it is 100yrs old,..His Mother dies at childbirth and the dad runs away with the baby leaving it at the footsteps of a senior citizens home... Queenie, ablack woman who works there stumbles upon the baby and brings him up!!! What starts there is the journey of Benjamin who grows younger physically as he grows older... 

The costume... The make up will have you wondering how this movie dint run away with all the Oscars.... It won 3 Awards only.... 

Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett  were simply outstanding.....

An amazing tale that left us all speechless... His every action..discovery of who is father is... the way he embraces the changes his body goes through... the love, the wait, the family., the maturity and the ending... Gosh, i dont know where to start!!!  

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is one of the most moving stories , collectibles infact.... A movie that one needs to experience and cannot enjoy simply by reading a review!!!!

A movie that tells us it does not matter what you look like,your outer appearance is just a shell to your inner soul ..... :)