gobble gobble

its turkey day today. Its been such an incredibly rough week, yet i'm having the time of my life relaxing at home by myself and not doing anything except play games and watch tv. Friends come over tomm and i'm excited about being able to go to Cafe Istanbul with them. And then hopefully the brand spanking new Georgia Aquarium on Sunday (the largest aquarium in the world!).

Saw Harry potter 4 on Imax on Sunday. Liked it. Can't say that I prefer it over the third. I didn't have the same issues that everyone else did with the movie. There was no way to keep the length short and the pace fast for a movie adaptation of a book thats close to a 1000 pages long. I even thought the acting was pretty good. The only thing that I didn't like was its lack of direction. I loved Cuaron's work on Prizoner of Azkaban and I loved what he did with the franchise. When i saw HP3, I felt like I was watching a movie for the very first time. I loved the dark cold cinematography, I loved the long sweeping shots, the way he showed passage of time, the score, the almost noirish camera angles, the little touches like the camera passing through the glass or the bird being whacked by the whomping willow. It worked for me. (I confess, the third book is my favorite too, being more of a mystery sci-fi whodunit rather than an out and out action adventure like Goblet. That book comes in second for me) I wish Cuaron had directed this one. I know hes not doing the fifth one. Hopefully he'll come back and do one more. As it stands, HP4 is a great movie...just nowhere as great as HP3 was.

As I spend my looooong weekend watching all kinds of movies (Big Business....how can I resist Bette Midler!), I took the time to check out a classic. The Maltese Falcon. I confess, I didn't get what the big deal was. Its a good movie, and a great noir...but one of the best movies of all time? I dunno. I do have new respect for Bogart though. Hes a class act. It seems like people in the old days talked a lot more and a lot faster than now. Everyone was reciting their dialogues so fast in the movie it was hard for me to even keep up! Oh well...I guess this is another movie which I don't get cause it doesn't work in the same context for me. Kinda like 2001: A space odeyssey.

Now I will go on to watch the "That 70s show" marathon thats been playing all day. I was just thinking. Maybe at some point in the future they'll have a "That 90s show". God will I feel ooollllddd that day :)

This thanksgiving I am thankful for positive thinking, loving friends, my beautiful family and mass media. Where would we be without them?

ruminations

its been one of those "meh" weeks. Nothing has really happened. I'm currently a little sick and I dont know why. Waiting for the test results to come in...in the meantime i will continue to be paranoid.

I've been watching a lot of movies. I saw "nowhere in africa" (brilliant), "heights"(pretentious, but somehow very good), "The motorcycle diaries" (great, but not as great as i thought it would be), The first two harry potters (and another to follow, as a run up to goblet of fire), "Win a date with Tad Hamilton!" (yuck). Next up are "Happy Endings" and "Gosford Park". I've tried to watch gosford twice now and slept each time, and I know this is one of those perfect Agatha Christie type movies i would love. So one more time. After that, I will check out Happy Endings, which i've heard great things about and its by the director of "The Opposite of Sex" which is a movie i loved. Possibly, one of the few movies in which i can stand Christina Ricci. Is it me or does her head look like a tomato on top of a smaller than average human body??

Of all the movies i saw above i definitely recommend:
Nowhere in Africa and
Heights

I can't wait to watch Prisoner of Azkaban again, it is such a better movie than the first two. Just goes to show how much direction and most of all good editing and score can add to a movie. My hats off to Alfonso Cuaron, the director, who incidentally directed Y tu mama tambien. A Spanish film about a roadtrip. (For movie buffs, it stars Gael Garcia Bernal, whos also in Motorcycle Diaries which is also a movie about a roadtrip!).

The biggest reason why anyone should watch Y tu mama is because Mexico bears more than a passing resemblance to India. It is so much like India, i felt like the lead characters were driving in Maharashtra somewhere.

Sorry about the Film encyclopedia post, i'm just in an uber film geeky phase right now.

Currently Listening: The Hours Soundtrack by Philip Glass (my all time favorite film score period)
Currently Reading: The Kite runner by Khaled Hosseini
Currently Doing: Procrastinating at work to write this post.

peeveedee!

last night...was PVD night....paul van dyk...the number one DJ on the planet....live....nuff said.....

means i was out till 3:30 last night and work is extremely tiring today :)


We also went to a chocolate fondue dinner at this place called "Dante's down the hatch" which has a Marathi, Tamil, Gujju and Konkani menu(!). They do only 1 chocolate fondue a day, and the chocolate is specially flown in, has no chemicals, is made with honey instead of sugar and its a meal! 5 of us barely made a dent in it and I was seriously chocolated out.

heres a link to their website for more details on how they do it (they have to stir the chocolate for 8 hours!) http://www.dantesdownthehatch.com/

also i'm too lazy to write it myself. The owner spent an hour with us talking about his exciting life as a world traveller and archeologist and about the origins and intricacies of chocolate and cacao. Frankly, by the time he was done, we were like shut up and get us our chocolate.

anyway, i digress.

let me digress more: heres the coolest little European PSP ad i found today.
http://www.beam.tv/beamreels/reel_player.php?reel=ySMThYPdsC&reel_file=sghRXPWmbr

i'll have a meatier post later...too tired now...must work....

catch 22

A light post tonight.

i was just reading an interview of the editor of Jarhead. Turns out the man is a veteran film editor who edited classics like "Apocalypse Now", another famous war movie. What was funny is, there is a scene in jarhead where marines are sitting together and watching "Apocalypse Now" and cheering the movie.

He describes it as feeling like he were in an M.C.Escher drawing, editing a movie in which the actors are watching a movie that he had previously edited.

For those who don't know M.C. Escher's work, hes a man who made fantastic drawings that played with perspective to create surreal imagery that made perfect sense to the eye on paper, but were impossible in real life. Heres an example. I'm sure most of you have seen these (its typical e-mail forward type stuff).

A post with no drama...i'm gonna publish this before i change my mind ;)

the prestige

no, this isn't a post about pressure cookers :) but a there is a lot of stuff boiling around in my head this time.

i just read a really unique book by Christopher Priest. Its called "the prestige". Its a tale about two 19th century magicians in a lifelong feud trying to outdo and kill each other at every step. The book is really cool. It manages to weave in this sense of the 19th century world with the intrigue of magic and magicians; but eventually as it twists and turns, it remains no longer a simple period story but turns into something else entirely. Its sci-fi, fantasy, period tale and thriller. Its quite bizarre, but very entertaining.

one of the interesting things in the book is about the technique of magic. He talks about "the prestige" or the final act of the magic trick. It is the illusion, the grand finale, the lie and the successful presentation of the lie as "magic". Priest of course, explains this way better than I can, but then hes a writer. The prestige, becomes a metaphor for the book and the lives of the characters. But it also becomes so much more. To me, it felt like it permeated all of the book. Almost everything about these central characters was wrapped in deceit and illusions. Yet, they were normal (well, almost) people. Makes me laugh a lot, because sometimes i feel we go through something similar all the time in our lives.

Haven't you all (i consistently like to ackowledge the two other people who read this ;) ever had moments in your life, when something you've known to be true and real for so long suddenly shatters all in one moment? Sometimes someone you know is responsible for it, sometimes it is something beyond your control, a death maybe, or a shocking truth that you didn't know. Well, I had an experience like that a while ago. Self analytical as always, i look back at myself and my reactions and see how wildly i was groping to keep the illusion alive. I didn't want my life and my reality to change, I couldn't handle it. I know now that it is a human reaction, we all cannot stand a sudden change or a sudden loss that we are forced to deal with. Denial. I also know now that we all would prefer to be in a state of illusion than face reality. The world is a better place that way.

What we know as "growing up" is basically a series of harsh realities of human life that we learn to accept and live with. Its ripping the bandage off painfully every time, all the time and then when we've done it enough, the pain isn't as harsh as before. Soon, we get used to it and it doesn't matter anymore. That is "the prestige" of our lives. A giant illusion that we love to show everyone, that nothing can hurt us or affect us. Its not a trick i can do too well i'm afraid. the other illusion is the one that other people cast on us. The only time you can see people at their crudest, most vulnerable, disgusting self is when their reality is shattered and they struggle wildly trying to get back on their own two feet. No one likes to show that side of themselves.

Something like war often brings that side out. Last weekend I saw a movie called Jarhead. Its by the director of American beauty, Sam Mendes. It was really good. If theres one movie that makes me want to respect the American Marines, its probably this one. Why? because there was no propoganda. There was none of that "we are american soldiers and we're fighting for the side of righteousness". There was no Hollywood grandstanding and no anti/pro-war stance or preaching. It was the tale of one Marine and his experiences in the Gulf War of Bush Sr. It was a disturbing, annoying, frustrating, sad, and ultimately pointless and scarring experience. But thats what war is. Its pointless and scarring. As a viewer you feel the frustration. You're not going to see any glorious act of heroism here. There is no big battle. In fact our heroes never get to kill anyone. These are all normal average joe americans in a war they are not prepared mentally to deal with. But then, how can you be? How can anyone anticipate and be ready for war? And thats exactly what makes these people worthy of your respect. They're not heroes. Hell, heroes are supposed to be brave and smart and courageous. Whats the big deal about that? But when you see average, messed up, flawed people going through this, you identify. You know how you'd react if you were in that situation. And it helps make war even more real for us. The barrier between the average viewer and the fakeness of the hollywood screenplay reduces a little bit more than normal. I bet the average movie goer will not like this movie. It has none of the masala success elements. To me, this movie does a great job. Watch it if you get the chance.

I also saw SawII on sunday. I won't talk about it. It was disturbing to watch and enjoyable. But it was also tripe.

Tonight i get to watch Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang. I'm happy.

I just re-read my entire post. I'm bipolar.

sweet november

its been a month.5 since my last post. Theres really not much to report. I've had a good month. Its been relaxed, i've spent time with friends, spent time thinking and unwinding, working hard and playing hard. I really couldn't ask for more. Yet, whats missing? Am I overanalyzing? Am I ungrateful for what I have? Most importantly...why can't I be "normal" ? If there is such a thing. Probably not.


We had a Halloween party at our place on saturday. It was incredible. Everyone was in a great mood, i'd made like 70 jello shots (which turned out to be very mild), i got to spend a lot of time with some friends, including one i hadn't seen in a while :) It was tiring as hell, i barely got any sleep and I was cleaning all day Sunday, but it was worth it. Everyone had a grand time and the costumes were amazing. Wish i'd put some more thought into mine, but hey. After my drag social...i didn't need to prove myself anymore ;)

The new Atlantic Station has opened near my place in Atlanta. Its strange how Atlanta is growing its own identity. It was like LA and any other southern/midwestern city, but now, its like...Atlanta. Its unique. Its made of small little disconnected areas, all in close vicinities, each with their own flavor. Theres Midtown, with the park and the restaurants and bars, East atlanta, definitely more for the indie music/alternative crowd, Little 5 points, for the REALLY alternative crowd, Cabbagetown, for the artsy loft living community, Canterbury Hill (its new, also artsy), Atlantic station, yuppie, residential, flowing into tech campus and Midtown, and then of course GeorgiaTech and the new downtown Georgia Aquarium which is going to be the biggest aquarium in the world.

Its exciting, and I suddenly want to live here. Its an affordable city, liberal, lots to do and friends. What more could I want. I just hope it lasts. What i'd love to see a big push for the arts scene here. Definitely lacking a bit.

I have realised that I cannot go home to see my family for another few months at least. I'm extremely disappointed and sad, but for some reason i'm blocking it entirely from my head. A year ago, i would have been very upset and made a big deal about it. Now...not so much. Kinda strange, knowing me and my dramatic inclinations. This may or may not mean bad things. Perhaps its good to bottle up feelings inside. Thats the way the rest of the world likes it. Maybe it has something to do with the growing emotional disconnection I feel with my family, friends and the rest of the world in general. I can't seem to stop it.

Oh well, another question to add to the growing list. Eventually they will all be answered. I'm almost sure of it.

Good night, and good luck. google that sentence. or imdb it. god i'm so all over the place today. good to be back at the talkies :) peace, happy diwali and eid mubarak.