A story, simple and complicated just as life is! - 'Descendants''

Somehow with piling up work and routine life, I badly needed a movie getaway.

Those moments where you can forget the cooker on the stove, soiled clothes in the laundry bag or the upcoming production release

I love cinema, provided they do not have troubled logic and does not insult my moderate IQ levels :)

And as always, some plot misgivings,imaginary song sequences that transports you to la la land, are easily forgiven :P

BTW this weekend we happened to catch up the two latest flicks in the theater nearby.Agneepath and Descendants.

If Agneepath was a rollercoaster entertainer, Descendants was a simple story beautifully told!

Here are my two cents on Descendants:)

'Descendants' is a family drama set in Huawei. A journey of a man as a, husband of a dying wife, father of two sensitive daughters aged 17 and 10, and a sole trustee of big ancestral land.

Matt King played by George Clonney comes to the fact that his wife cannot recover from coma after a major boat accident. With this revelation he pulls himself together and tries to bring some sense in his daughters'rebellion ways. In the course he learns about his wife's infidelity.There are scenes whre Clooney is shown running frantically in search of answers. Look at the vulnerabilities and strength in his eyes then.

I loved the relationship bewtween Matt and his elder daughter Alexandra. The way the girl transforms from being crazy to an understanding daughter is nicely shown. Also Matt's tolerance in handling it.

The scenic beauty of Huawei, Kuai islands is endearing! In a nutshell this movie is a treat to the senses.

Clooney has executed his act very well, and one's heart reaches out to this man juggling with issues. A must watch movie.

A story, simple and complicated just as life is!

Devil's Double - A hands down winner

Gore, Action is not my liking in movies or real life

And 'Devil's Double' much happened to me more out of my husband's will.

Now I'm all glad that I watched the movie.

Devil's double is a movie based on the life of infamous Uday Hussein (Saddam'seldest son) and Latif Yahia, his forced lookalike.

The movie is set in Baghdad and mainly revolves around rich Uday's cocky, self-indulgent ways of misusing power.

When war breaks out in Iraq, Uday like his dad Saddam wishes to have a body double. And unfortunately Latif having striking resemblance to Uday is forced to play his double. The perfection is nailed by Latif undergoing face lifts and surgeries. Now the Rolex flaunting Latif is ready sans his family.

Watch out for Dominic Cooper's dual performance in the portrayal of Uday - A mindless freak raging all over with a heady feeling of power, and a subdued Latif!

Black Swan - Movie

Black Swan is one of the best dramas I've ever seen. Nina (Natalie Portman) is a diligent ballerina in a New York Ballet institute.

The movie follows the banal life of Nina as she commutes to Ballet from her apartment. After four years of dedicated effort, Nina bags the role of "Swan Queen" in the Swan Lake musical. It is a dual role where she has to play the gentle White Swan and the lusty Black Swan. Nina aptly fits in the role of delicate and submissive White Swan.

However the sensuality and the viciousness demanded by the Black Swan character is a challenge for Nina. It's during the preparation for this portrayal, Nina comes face to face with her inner demons, and her already sensitive psyche depletes inch by inch.

The movie totally belongs to Portman. Mila Kunis shines in her role as sensuous Lily. Portman rightly deserved the Academy award for her performance! I also loved Barbara Hershey's role as an overprotective mother of Nina. Watch it to believe it.

This haunts! :)

Keep the Change - Nirupama Subramanian

"Keep the Change" is an average chick lit, which you will not repent, if missed.

The brazen writing style used by Nirupama Subramanian, makes it an easy read. It is the journey of simple, curd rice eating, conventional Damayanthi to the Maximum city MUMBAI. The protagonist confesses her experiences by penning down her thoughts, to her imaginary diary friend Victoria. But having said that, the character is not as innocent as the author tries to portray or make us believe! Many instances in the book makes you feel that.

Somehow the reader here remains inert for the experiences of Damayanthi. Had the character been nurtured with a little more sensitivity, it would have been much appreciated. Overall an average book.

PS: Totally loved the cover page though :)

Bonjour Cinema :)

Winter has something in it! The overwhelming beauty of this season is seductive and I can't help but fall in love with Nature all over again! The month of December makes my heart filled with so much joy that I can't stop counting my blessings :) Blame it on the season or the jingle bells and the carols :)

Call it Writer's block or sheer laziness that I haven't updated the blog so far this year :o But 2010 had its own share of good things and the not so pleasant things has most definitely sown some seeds of wisdom in me :P

Work, French Classes and movies have been the cynosure of the eyes and reading is confined to the daily Newspapers, Magazines and my French text books.

One lazy Tuesday when I was early to home from work. I was aimlessly surfing through channels. It was say about 4 ish in the evening..And as I browsed, some interesting visual caught my attention on UTV World Movies and I paused. Well I was one of those people for whom Cinema was more or less only Bollywood.Period. Hollywood and foreign language movies were oblivious and needless to say Greek & Latin to me. Hubby's coaxing also failed to inspire me. So now back to that Tuesday...
On the top right corner of the channel there flashed, Coming Up "Three Colors Blue-French". The title sounded bizarre and some thing within prompted me to watch this movie. May be the Color? :P

AND voila the moment had arrived, with each passing frame of the film I was drawn into the characters, the emotions and yes the country France. The time flew just as the sublime movie had cast its spell on me.

Dear readers this movie is first among the three in the trilogy. Following up were "Three Colors White" and "Three Colors Red". Each is a gem and exposes the viewer to the Contemporary French society.

These movies introduced me to the creative works of some of the finest directors. Ditto as books the movies takes you to places, through society, into people, emotions and most importantly the Journey of LIFE.
400 blows (French), Paris je t'aime (French), Divided we Fall (Czech) , Bread and Tulips(Italian),Viva Cuba(Spanish), The short film about love(Polish), Roman Holiday, Chocolat, Revolutionary Road, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Match Point, Being There, The Notebook, Changeling, French Kiss, American Beauty and many more.

Thanks to World Movies, ZEE Studio and friends from whom I was able to discover some gems of the CINEMA.
That's about it folks. I'm taking my baby steps in exploring this world, any inputs on fine movies is most welcome. Full on Action and Gore is yet not my liking though :)

The following posts will express my views on the Cinema that I've enjoyed, ones that strike a chord and helps me grow.

Thanks and Merry X-mas to all! :)

Tagged

Thanks for the tag! Ava, They are now my comeback vehicles :P
Here I go,


1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn on page 18 and find line 4.
In the light of discussions above and visualisations, we can again say that every..
Express and Marie Claire and Vogue And GQ and

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can & catch air?
My black Tote

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Morning news on Times Now.

4. Without looking, guess what time it is?
12:40pm

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
12:35 pm

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
The conference call across the aisle.

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
Cafeteria, chit chatting

8. Before you started this Q&As, what did you look at?
The Outlook mailbox

9. What are you wearing?
A blue & white salwar kameez.

10. When did you last laugh?
Today morning at a forward which was discussing Fridays vs Mondays :P

11. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
Large framed photographs of desert, windmills and skyscrapers

12. Seen anything weird lately?
Auto person yelling, " You pay 150 bucks for a 50 rs stuff in malls and you can't give me double the fare?? "

13. What do you think of this quiz?
Total time pass :D

14. What is the last film you saw?
Wake Up Sid

15. If you became a multimillionaire overnight, what would you buy?
Bonvoyage!!Travel tickets of packages covering the seven wonders. Aha!

16. Tell me something about you that I dunno!
I don't know what are you thinking about me :P

17. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
Back to basics, a good value education system.

18. Do you like to Dance?
Just swaying to the beats.

19. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
Count not your chickens before they hatch ;-)

20. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call her?
Hee hee

21. Would you ever consider living abroad?
Yeah. But never spending my lifetime there :o

22. What do you want GOD to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
"You did a pretty decent job there"

Well, This morning saw me pleading to seven rick wallahs! Blame the faraway work locations[ read poles apart] of both of us.Two to three was an everyday affair.But seven?Well it's become a trend here in blore, sufficing to the greedy auto wallahs with a moo mangi fare.
Please n please do not feed them extra and later crib! It's because of this habit of ours, they have become so merciless.

Watched Wake up Sid, over the weekend. And I liked it because of the effortless acting of Ranbir. Definitely not the wannabe types. Anyway, the natural Konkona needs no adjectives. Thumbs up for this light hearted film. Holidays clubbing with the weekends is the best part of 2009. And this saw us visiting *hometown,temples,hometown and more temples*! :D

My dear blog friends, I'll soon catch up with your posts! Sigh.time Management is the need of the hour.Period.

Until next time... :-)