The Twilight saga

Its 2:10 am. I tried to sleep at the stroke of midnight because I could feel a headache beginning to nudge my forehead. Gave up midway, and here I am typing this. As random and out-of-place as this sounds on this blog, I have enough reason to put it in here. Please find below the reasons that led to this.

TWILIGHT.

So I watched it once on a flight. Hated it. Watched it again on DVD. Had fun watching it, but didn’t think much of it. And then almost a year later, someone had an epiphany and Twilight released, or re-released in India, to cash in on the hype surrounding New Moon (and cash in they did. The ticket prices have been miraculously doubled. For a movie that’s a year old.)

So my friend. My stoic friend. Suddenly gets passionate about something – Twilight – and drags me to a theatre to watch it. I go because that’s what’s friends do. And then I regret it.

BECAUSE I GOT SO BORED!

Seriously, I don’t get the hype around these adaptations of Stephenie Meyer books. I understand Harry Potter. It was in existence long before the films were made, and therefore became a classic before its distorted versions released on the celluloid. So a neophyte could watch the movie and marvel at it and a die-hard HP fan could just watch the movie, shrug at it believing it to be a cutesy harry potter-esque thingy and get on with the books. Ditto for LOTR.

But Twilight? I actually met a guy who was trying to sell me tickets for Twilight. He accidently bought 6 tickets for Twilight thinking he was buying tickets for New Moon! And then people ask me why I wonder if it achieved its cult status too soon?

I have read the books and honestly thought that although the story was gripping it was very blandly written. I personally read the book with curiosity but flinched a few times when the protagonists got too madly in maudlin love for my taste.

This time around, all I enjoyed was the ‘show-off’ scenes of Edward’s, where he prances about and sparkles et al. The DVD certainly did no justice to the swish-swosh of the SFX induced movement.

Either way, I have vented enough about Twilight and questioned its raison d’etre enough.

To conclude my saga, my friend said goodbye to me, post the movie, thus: ‘meet you in two weeks, for pretty much the same thing’. By which she meant New Moon. Get what I’m saying?

p.s. For the uninitiated, New Moon releases in India on the 4th of December. Two weeks after it released for the rest of the world.

Public Enemies

As is true of most gangster films, Public Enemies also takes you on a journey full of good looking men in good looking clothes travelling in good looking cars, and doing things, unimaginable otherwise, with much gall (ahem, and the like), only to give a lopsided smile to the authorities...

Similarly, Public Enemies is replete with crises and incidents that make you exclaim, "Like really now!". But the deal is that it is, like, based on a REAL story. The story of John Dillinger and Melvin Purvis, a hot-shot bank robber, and an equally hot-shot FBI guy on his pursuit.

I guess Public Enemies scores the most on its plotline, which albeit slow in most parts does manage to compel you to wait patiently to know what happens next.

And again, Johnny Depp and Christian Bale are another compelling factor I suppose. Deep amazes me with how he just manages to fit like a glove into any character he plays. With no qualms about looking 'weird' when acting, he manages to deliver with utmost perfection, and yet managing to look sooo good. So theres none of the Okay, if I open my mouth too wide, I look fat etc. (Okay now I am rambling!)

Either way, Christian Bale shines as the diligent agent, and so does Marion Cotillard who plays the irrestable girlfriend, who deserves all of Dillingers loyalty and love.

Catch it for some incredible performances, but do remember to stock up on some patience and popcorn when renting the DVD.

I'm back!

I haven't been at my blogging best for the last few days. Exams, illhealth and the like were constantly lurking behind weeks to pounce on me on otherwise pleasant days. My amidst all this my poor blog lay dormant. :(

But all's well now. And we shall continue venting about movies here, hopefully regularly.

Random Rant

I know this is strictly a movie blog. But I needed a place to rant.. and twitter, my hitherto BFF, with its 140 characters limit just doesn't suffice..  therefore this rant-piece.

- No posts for ages. Rather, no worthwhile posts for ages. Thanks to a SEVERE bout of illness.   Temperatures souring 104 degrees. Mine. Not the city's. The city's been a lot cooler these days. Thanks to rain that just falls randomly. I hate it when it rains.

- That apart. Random pain has been gnawing at me. Was on the verge of getting admitted to the hospital. Randomness.

- Exams. The ones I was all gung-ho about for days. Cancelled. Well, not cancelled really. But I am just not planning to appear for those this year. Will concentrate on my college applications instead. The exam cancellation actually makes me sad. FML.

- What college applications? The ones I mentioned in the previous post. (I so know you didn't read it. As random as it was.) Anyway my film school applications are increasingly becoming stressful. Have GRE et al to give.. Plus I need recommendations. Awkward.

- So well while I am not running around begging for recos or learning Math for the GRE (which I'll probably never use), will keep myself busy writing 'creative writing' specimens for said college applications. One deals with 'The Portrayal of Nonconformist Sexuality in Indian Cinema'. Good choice? And the second well is just supposed to be a review of a recent film I've watched.

- Now I am going to regret having mentioned what I am writing on. But well, hopefully this will help me garner some ideas for the project with comments that you may choose to leave.

- For the second assignment would 'Coraline' be a good choice? I know I can choose better. But I have no clue why I am so bent on reviewing an animated flick. My first formal review after all.

- Now that I have seriously established this as a random post. Which I have already started regretting writing. And will probably delete later. I shall sign off. And watch 'How I met your mother' or SATC or something. And no. Don't worry. I wont review it.

Vicky Christina Barcelona

Vicky Christina Barcelona released in India only now. And I watched it for the second time when this extremely sad looking advert in the newspaper reminded me of it. FYI, I loved Vicky Christina Barcelona. I love Woody Allen films anyway. He is neurotic, eccentric, weird. Lovely.

So, about VCB (too long a title, please allow the abbreviation. You know I don't use such doggerel otherwise). VCB was beautiful. The way only a non SFX, non overtly chick-flicky, non film filmy film can be. What I mean is that VCB was so casual. So non film like.

For instance, both the protagonists - Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson - wear these loose comfortable clothes that probably even I would be ashamed to wear. The film is shot in Spain, but sans the oh-look-at-me-I-am-pure-splendor way. It acknowledges the beauty of the place through the protagonists interest in studying the architecture there and moves on to better things like the narrative. Casual, see.

So the two protagonists, on a holiday to Barcelona, are propositioned a trip to some difficult to pronounce place by a complete stranger and they agree to go. What follows next is a whirlwind journey into who sleeps with whom and who falls in love with and out of love with whom. The movie then of course has its moments of infatuation, lovemaking, awkward oops-I-slept-with-you-when-I-already-had-a-boyfriend and mistaken-footsie-under-the-table. But the film merely breezes through it, making it look like nothing happened. Spread over two months, the narrative gives the semblance that nothing's really happening and yet so much happens. That's Woody Allen for you.

Worth a mention is Penelope Cruz. She's hot in the film. And I don't mean hot (which she is), but brilliant! She plays this crazy woman who breaks off with her boyfriend because she tried to kill him and comes back and lives in his house with his current girlfriend etc. You get the picture. Whoa! Hmm, Rebecca Hall is good. Scarlett Johansson is well, Scarlett Johansson in Woody Allen films. Javier Bardem was a new face that I don't mind watching more of.

All in all, VCB is the kind you would watch when you are feeling very random and dont mind watching something 'casual'. But must warn you. The soundtrack kind of gets stuck in your head. Barcelonaaa..