Monthly Archives: September 2011
Gentlemen Extraordinaire
This one’s specially for the ladies. Not a thorough Doppelganger entry, but their facial resemblance in more aspects than one is undeniable. As for their respective talents; well its for the world to see. & if awarded for their contribution, it may read like this :
Actor crème de la crème - Kevin Costner
Killer Crooner – Michael Bolton
Mr. Cool personified – Steve Mcqueen
Costner, Bolton & Mcqueen
Some of You’d think its a “nothing” post. Well I’d have to agree a fair bit. I mean what the heck. Lets just take a moment to marvel at these chiseled contures. Collectively titled “Gentlemen Extraordinaire”.
Enjoy 
Carlos Tevez : Finished ?
I don’t mean this, in its entirety. It is in reference to what Manchester City’s Manager had to say at the end of their Bayern Munich clash after going down 2-0, in their Champions League tie. Its a result of a revolt by the ever so fussy, home sick striker, Carlos Tevez when he refused to come on as a substitute with the club 0-2 down and around 40 minutes to final whistle. This was in retaliation to the plan of leaving him out of the starting 11 or so we’ve heard.
Who is in a hurry to leave who ? Man City or Tevez ?
I have heard and witnessed plenty of stories of players being unhappy about being substituted or being left out at starts but this sounds like a clincher. Its long time coming and one or the other Tevez would and most importantly should work out someway to leave. With this instance aside I’d like to think the club should have read the signs when a player begs to be left. You cannot win trophies like that.
Dzeko not afraid to show his frustration at being replaced !!!
A case in point is Edin Dzeko’s reaction at being replaced. Check the pic out. I mean c’mon there must be more than one thing wrong at the blues camp in Maine Road. Personally this is what happens when You pay money to buy loyalty. It just doesn’t work that way. Its about passion and a sense of belonging. A more passionate player would have tried to prove the Manager wrong by making use of opportunities thrown at him. Mancini summarised it all when he said “I cannot accept this. Can you imagine a Bayern Munich, Milan or Manchester United player doing this?” Yes Sir. You said it. & You’ re right we cannot imagine.
Check out the latest results of the UEFA Champions League, here !!!
Pic Coutesy : Empics Sport / Getty Images
Tom Cruise : Retrospective
Tom Cruise : Risky Business
“Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and taste. I’ve been around for long, long years; Stole many a man’s soul & faith“. Mr. Thomas Cruise Mapother IV or simply Tom “Awesome” Cruise most certainly needs no introduction. But if there were words in a song that could have possibly come close to doing so, its got to be “Sympathy for the Devil” by the Rolling stones.
There”s a clip that was recently uploaded on his blog. As You can tell, I follow the man. He has been synonymous to “Hollywood” with his following spread far & wide across the globe crossing most boundaries, including the likes of sex, colour, language, creed and the other phoney lot.
Due to various copyright issues and embedding restrictions (damn those 
), I cannot upload the video here. So please visit his Official Site to check the video. Its a montage of some his most memorable performances (minus his Oprah appearance obviously !!!). Take a moment and ENJOY the ride Will be truly worth the time spent !!!
Jack O Connell & Anton Yelchin : The Doppelganger Effect !!!
While I was watching “Fright Night”, I could have sworn the lead character was the same person who played a younger Bobby Charlton in the movie “United”. At first I was a bit saddened to realise an American chosen to play another English legend. It wasnt the first time but somehow it felt wrong.
That was until I decided to review FN after I was back home. And BHAMMM, it hit me like a thousand bricks when I realised Jack O Connell and Anton Yelchin are actually 2 different people. Jack’s from Derby, England and Anton born in Russia and raised in Los Angeles, CA. Anton’s a year older than Jack.
Ok You decide for Yourself and tell me the uncanny resemblance between the 2.
Anton & Jack. Brothers separated at birth ???
Fright Night is Irritatingly Funny
Fright Night 2011 Poster
No, I haven’t watched the 1985 original so there are no relevant comparisons possible. What it also means is, I had a pretty blank board for expectations as I entered the theatre on a boring Sunday afternoon. Well what I returned with was a very contrived perspective of a screenplay that had potentially, plenty of things going for it. But unfortunately fell flat while it was being executed. Not for the first time and certainly would not be the last.
The thing that ruined the movie for me was the vision the makers may have had when they went into production. Was it supposed to be a strictly jump scares only – popcorn time pass, homage to a classic or an absolute rib tickler on the lines of “Zombieland”? Its understood that sometimes trade marking a sub genre could be an accomplishment, alas in the case of “Fright Night” it was anything but that. What looked like a tensed start with serious undertones, turned very mediocre as the story progressed finally culminating into an almost laugh riot climax. The sad bit is that, there are a plenty of flicks out there which are so bad, that they are funny, although unintended. FN doesnt belong to that category either, sometimes making it a drab and a pain to watch. Some have compared it with “Disturbia” to which I vehemently disagree as well. Besides the basic theme of voyeurism, single mom and an anti social neighbour both the movies are very different. One of them being “Disturbia” a better product than “Fright Night”.
The 2 bright spots of an otherwise forgettable evening were Chritopher Mintz-Plasse and David Tennant. Both the roles unfortunately were ridiculously written, almost forced. A little bit of thought going into these sub plots would have made FN a very different, a much better movie.
Without giving too much away all I’d say is, watch “Fright Night” if there is absolutely nothing You have to do. But let me remind You, its not a sin to make movies like this. I mean how else would one enjoy / notice the little few gems that are thrown in very far in between.
Rating 2 / 5
Here’s a trailer if You haven’t seen it already !!!
P.S. My favourite vampire movie : Thrist by Chan Park Wok.
Clint Eastwood’s “J. Edgar”
The Actor and The Act - Ledonardo DiCaprio and J. Edgar Hoover
Just as we wondered and made our own little lists of Oscar nominees with the final quarter of 2011 looming large with only an odd week to go, its time to make way for Clint Eastwood’s “J.Edgar” to hit the screens early winter. Such has been the irrefutable aura of the man both at the box office and with the critics alike, it’ll be cardinal to expect anything less from Clint “the once dirty Harry now Hollywood legend – heavyweight” Eastwood. Add to that prospect, a subject line as controversial as the career of a certain John Edgar Hoover, the founder and the longest serving Director of the FBI. For an outsider like me, the impact of this subject has been this : I wouldn’t have had half as many movies to watch or stories to read if not for the FBI. A term which sometimes in contemporary culture has found itself at the mercy of many a controversies and sometimes even ridicule. Watch the trailer and You tell me why its too early to term it delectable. Ok You need more ? The cast is led by the likes of Leonardo Di Caprio (I’d hold no reservations in calling him the potential candidate of the greatest actor that ever lived), Judi Dench, Naomi Watts and hold Ur breath the ladies, Armie Hammer (of Facebook, woops “The Social Network” fame).
Eastwood & DiCaprio "on the sets of J.Edgar"
As for Mr. Eastwood, with the exception of ”Hereafter” which was neither here nor there last year, the man has given us “Invictus” -2009, “Changeling” & “Gran Torino” both- 2008, “Letters From Iwo Jima” – 2006, “Million Dollar Baby” – 2004, & “Mystic River” – 2003, in the last 11 years. That’s almost a body of work that spans an entire career for a few top notch directors that he sometimes gets compared with. The man thrives in story telling with with a stamp of the yore that is both compelling and taut in screenplay as well as visually enthralling. I’d be mighty surprised and more so gutted if “J.Edgar” turns out to be anything else.
Here’s the trailer that is doing its usual round in the social media circuits for the past few days. Pay special attention to the unmistakable and adopted for screenplay accent of DiCaprio as the teaser starts with “When morals decline and good man do nothing. Evil flourishes. A society unwilling to learn from its past is doomed. We must never forget our history. We must never lower our guard“. Enjoy !!!
For more about the movie, please Click Here
Stanley Ka Dabba : His tiffin box revealed
Plenty of superlatives have been laced around this gift of cinema by the common man and the critics alike. Having stated my grievance over the local Hindi film distributors, it’s been no surprise that “Stanley Ka Dabba” never saw the light of day in a market that I see as a melting pot of cultures and has a tremendous future in its entirety. But business aside, I consider myself lucky to have laid my hands on this gem of a movie after some trials since its release. Considering the pragmatic message of the enterprise and the manner its told, I’d do my best to spread the fire (if it can be called that) amongst masses where pre conceived notion of a Bollywood potboiler has run riots, more so lately. Emergence of absolute trash in the past few months and its glorified success stories augurs bad for the industry as it is. But what that trend has done is make SKD stand out and brought along a bag of possibilities.
Take a bow Snr and Jnr Gupte
The tribulations of Amole Gupte and the crew while making this project a reality, is just a click away on plenty of websites. However let that not influence Your reasons to fall for this charmer. My bet is, a few seconds into the screenplay and You will forget much of it anyway. That’s for me, is what a movie’s sole purpose if. Make You leave Your world behind and get You connected with the protagonist immediately. The introduction, the conflict and climax are woven seamlessly giving the viewer the pleasure of time, money and energy well spent. With that said; a very very special mention to all the kids involved in the movie, led by a nonchalant powerhouse performance by Partho (incidentally the son of Amole Gupte) and the man himself, playing the protagonist and antagonist respectively. If You have never felt a lump in Your throat or may have forgotten how it felt like (since it’s been that long), watch out for Stanley. Most likely he will get You and get You bad. By no stretch of imagination is this a saccharine coated or a painstakingly sad tale. If anything at all, this will be long remembered for its well sketched climax, that could potentially knock You off; numb. Special note to my Indian friends who haven’t had the pleasure of watching this yet, a word of caution. We in our lives, even if it’s for once have come across one “Stanley” and that will be with Us long after the credits have rolled.
Technically it’s a lesson in film making for aspiring story tellers of all forms and sizes. I remember what an interviewer once asked a celebrated movie director of Malaysia during her interview “When You’re thinking about a film, does it start with an idea and how does it come to life?”. To which one of my favourite film makers, Yasmin Ahmed replied “It never starts with an idea, it starts with a feeling”. Well although I haven’t read / seen any interview of Mr Gupte around his solo directorial venture yet, I am almost certain that it must have been a feeling that stuck to him in good stead and made him gift us “Stanley Ka Dabba”. How else would You explain a 90 minutes screenplay based on a subject matter that may come across as trivial at start but gradually builds up to make a special space in Your heart and mind culminating to a very very special message.
Want to watch the movie ? Ask me and I shall ensure You have it. Just one suggestion if I may. If possible please watch it with as big a group of friends, family and loved ones as possible. Thank Me later 4.5/5
The trailer 
An interview of Partho. Click Here
Emmy Award : Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Well Well Well no surprises for getting that right. Yes our very own Jim Parsons for his absolutely quirky yet bewitching role of “Sheldon Cooper” – the idiosyncratic scientist from The Big Bang Theory. & for those of You, who don’t know it already, its his 3rd Emmys on the trot for the same role. A pat on the back for You Jim Well deserved hat-trick .
Here’s a peep into the moment. Enjoy folks
For an exhaustive list of Nominations and Winners for the Emmys 2011 Click Here
Rahul Dravid : Transcending Perfection
Well its time to bid adieu to a legend of the sport from its ODI version. Arguably the perfect ambassador of the sport and one of the finest gentlemen the game has had the privilege to see. Having followed the sport for nearly two decades I have not seen another one, who with all the heights he’s scaled, still wears the look of a young student, hungry to learn from his mistakes and most admirably willing to admit them. This one characteristic will always make him the head of a very prestigious school. The remarkable fact is that, enrollment into the institution is exhibiting a downward trend, gradually becoming non existent.
Raise it again Dravid
For which the cricketers alone cannot be blamed. Its us the fans and our demand for more is what had caused this. But more of that later. Today is about Rahul Dravid. The name that has been synonym to disaster recovery in cricket and hence his nick name “The Wall”. More often than not this adage was earned through his Test Cricket exploits. However the fact that the travelling Indian team esp. its batsmen being prone to a well known, universally accepted, self demolition mode, meant “The Wall’ was an honour well earned. Its most recent loot has been the World Cup, but RG unfortunately will not have his name in that list.
His most remarkable contribution to the ODI form of the game and specially to India, has been his definitive attitude and the various roles he put his hands up for, when the establishment had nowhere to go. In the earlier years of the 21st century it was becoming common knowledge that 6 batsmen with 1 wicket keeper batsmen was the norm. With no MS Dhonis in the candidature list that time (almost a sin), RG opted to done the glove. He chose to accept the brick bats for his inability of mastering the basics of the specific task at hand every now and then, but always worked twice as hard to make up for it with his bat. He more often than not, succeeded. And so did India. One very telling factor amongst many, that led us to the finals of the 2003 world cup campaign in RSA, was this.
Rahul Dravid belonged to an era of the Tendulkars & Gangulys and to some extent the Sehwags & Yuvrajs too. All exceptionally flamboyant stroke players who could change the mood and outcome of a game in a very short span of time. RG could do the same but then again You needed someone who could almost nonchalantly get into 2nd gear, get stuck, repair and leave a platform for the others to go hammers and tongs around him. He was the man for such occasions. He thrived in them. And for that, I as a fan of the game in general and the Indian Cricket team in particular, would like to express my gratitude and heartfelt Thank You to Rahul Dravid, for the memories.
