Dog Days Afternoon

I wanted some old time action, and knowing the recognition Dog Days Afternoon got at the Academy, it was an obvious choice. There was time when I had high regard for Al Pacino, but somewhere I started to notice that the characters he was casted had a similar trait. Since then, I started losing my admiration for him, and it just happened that I discovered a lot of other actors whom I had not noticed before.


Its all a mind game, bank robbery, demands, negotiation, decisions, mob, media coverage, FBI, cops…More than anything the beauty of the film is understanding how the psyche of different persons work in different situations. I remember once in college some person had come down to speak about MBA from ISB and he was asking the students if they knew what Stockholm Syndrome was. In more than one ways, you feel so much safe inside with Al Pacino in the bank than the world outside. Just the perspective of the film changes our ethical and moral equations. I particularly like the head clerk, a lady who is so true to her character she plays. I really liked observing her reactions and responses. Could they have really pulled off the whole show had they been more careful? What does it take to out-beat the strategists who are there to out wit and tire out the miscreants emotionally and physically? Some of the tactics is used by most strategists, still the cons fall trap to their lures.

A walk on the Moon

Do you feel that some actors get stereotyped into certain roles for the major chunk of their career? Whenever I see, Jenifer Aniston, all that I can think is Friends nothing beyond, same case for Lisa Kudrow. For Diane Lane there three movies which I can re-collect and all of them have traces of similar characterization. I think whenever somebody is thinking about casting, its in favor of the actor who has done a role with similar strains. A Walk on the Moon, Under the Tuscan Sky, Must Love Dogs well all of them show streaks of a woman trying to search herself. However when we talk about versatility I believe there are some actors who have this ability to get into the skin of the character more than what one could imagine. For instance Nicole Kidman in Dogville, Felicity Huffman in Transamerica, Heath Ledger in Dark Knight. Heath Ledger in Dark Knight, hats off to Nolan to be able to see Heath Ledger as the Joker. I could not think of the Brokeback Mountain actor to undergo such a transformation.

Samsara

This film is dedicated to the unsung hero, Nalin Kumar Pandya a.ka. Nalin Pan. He has made critically acclaimed movies Samsara and Valley of Flowers. Born in remote village in Gujarat, he is a man who made his own destiny and created a niche for himself.


Link to his biography - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0659023/bio


Samsara is the tale of a Lama who has been recognized for his works at the monastery but his heart wishes to renounce the monastery and go live the life of an ordinary man. Just the reverse of what Buddha did; and what he encounters on this journey is what this tale is all about. Shot in the beautiful locales of Ladakh, with absolutely alluring back ground score and cinematography, Samsara is a delight for the eye as well as the soul. With traces of spiritualism, it does not get preachy and does not delve on complex dialog constructions, instead, the movie like a fluid maneuvers its path intricately and subtly. A must see for those who have an appetite for the Buddhist philosophy and way of life.

The French Connection

American crime, narcotics, cops who want to establish their worth, suave and elusive Frenchman (Fernando Rey), hunt down, searches, escapes, internal politics, bickering, risks, partnership, well this celebrated Academy award winning film is a specimen from those times. ‘Catch it’ as they would say on the show Chicks in Flicks. Talking about the show, I feel the hosts are impeccably dressed for a show like that and they appear to read line by line from a review for researched critique.

In the Cut - “I want to do to you what the spring does to the cherry tree”

An unkempt and disorganized apartment but amidst this chaos, you see order, and then you know for sure that this is not the Meg Ryan you have seen before. Long time back when I had seen Meg Ryan for the first time in ‘French Kiss’ like any other boy, I was like wow she is a beauty. But then with time you realize, yes she is pretty but there are others too. A lot of them in fact!!! She is plays a professor with a passion for words, and lives quite a dangerous life though she does not intend to.
Mark Ruffalo, well I didn’t know a single thing about him until I saw ‘I can count on you’. I picked that move for Laura Linney, but Mark was a bonus. Both of them together give an absolutely incredible performance. Well, in ‘In The Cut’, Mark - believe me, somewhere resembles, Abhay Deol. I think its the mush. He plays a cop, a cop not everyone would like.
Overall though the plot may be summarized as a thriller, the movie operates at many levels. There is a dark element, there is mystery, there is chaos, there is danger, there is risk and a good amount of melodrama. Its based on a novel by Susanna Moore. Jane Campion who made the masterpiece ‘The Piano’; directed this movie. Nicole Kidman it is said was supposed to play the role which was played by Meg Ryan. Nicole I guess wound up as being one of the producers for the movie.

The Last Lecture – Randy Pausch from Crossword

I picked some DVDs from Cross Word in Shopper’s Stop. I went home and figured out that the region coding for the DVD is not supported by the DVD players in India. I decided to return the DVD and also my copy of the BBC version of “Midsummer Night’s Dream’. It got stuck on one particular chapter and no matter which player you tried. After a little discussion the store guy agreed to let me pick something worth the value. He not only billed me extra, he could not refund the money and gave me a credit note valid for 6 months. It just took away all the charm of picking up a book. Never the less, I feel it was worth it.

The Last Lecture was labeled as Crossword Recommends, and somewhere I re-collected that I had heard of the book. Later I found out it was my brother who had got the same book from his client and was quite impressed with it. I took time to read the book as it was really difficult to squeeze time. However there are some portions from the book which I really enjoyed. Though not for the literary content of the book, but the message was loud and clear. There are some instances which I disagree with him like wishing his wife in public, which I feel should have been a more private affair. I was quite kicked to read what he learnt during his football practice - “When you’re screwing up, and nobody’s saying anything to you anymore, that means they gave up.”

Zapperdockel and the Wock, Rangashankara, Bangalore, September 14

Zapperdockel and the Wock.

Left in time from the office, navigated the evening traffic and escaped the light showers to reach Rangashankara in time. Picked tickets, had chai, and I still had some time at hand. I stepped in to find lots of tiny tots seated right on the stage and eagerly waiting for the puppets to appear. Arundhati Nag too came in to watch the play. The lady on the stage was absolutely stunning and brought life to whole play. Though the story line was quite simple, it had the kids roaring with laughter. Sometimes it makes a lot of sense to see sense in what we too appreciated as kids once.

This would be my third play targeted for young adults in last one month. And each time the themes and the presentations has always been worth it.

White Palace

When you think of Susan Sarandon, if you think of Dead Man Walking, then you are in for a big surprise. And if you know James Spader from 'Crash' and 'Sex, Lies, and Videotape' - then there would be no big surprise there.



In spite of the cliché’s it was a great watch for me. It made my Sunday evening complete. There are some parts of the movie which will stay on with me for a long at time, like the conversation Susan has at Max's residence on Thanksgiving. While I was watching White Palace, I could not help but notice a similar strain in and 'Elegy' and 'The Graduate'. Well, White Palace is definitely a misleading title for such a treasure.



Though Jason Alexander plays a different kind of person in the movie, whenever I looked at him, he always reminded me of George from Seinfeld.

Marie and Bruce

Honey this and Darling that. You would never ever hear two persons using 'Honey' and "darling' so much before being sarcastic and humiliating the other person..On more a serious note, the whole story happens in a span of day, and at the end of it what was the fuss all about. Exactly what are we all fussing about, does it really matter?

Great to see Mathew drunk and high on spirits.