The Devil's Workshop

Idle hands, devil's workshop ... No, but really, I find working with my hands therapeutic, soothing, and kinda rewarding (depending on how the final product turned out).

It started with wanting to make a housewarming gift for a friend (whose housewarming I eventually didn't attend): I was wavering (two to three days prior to said housewarming party) between a calendar and a hanging planter but soon decided that a plant seemed like more an appropriate gift. I was really taken by the himmeli planters I saw online and thought they didn't look very difficult to make ... (HA!)

Materials:

• Black straws (bendy bits snipped off)
• Cocktail straws
• Embroidery floss (I had loads from Daiso leftover from the friendship band attempts) and a long needle—I did try regular sewing thread (too fiddly for my fat fingers) and a spool of twisty tie (it doesn't lie straight and flat and curves the straws uglily); I think if I were to continue making these straw mobiles/ornaments, I'd use clear fishing wire/nylon beading wire thread.

I used the design of a star pendant I found. The whole thing measured approximately 30 cm; I cut my straws into 15 cm and 8 cm lengths. The plant I bought was an air plant, Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides), which Emily pointed out resembled an untrimmed (pubic) bush.

So ... yeah. (That wasn't why I didn't attend the housewarming and give this thing I made though.)

These recent days have been weirdly tiring ones for me. Inexplicably so. I couldn't wake up, didn't feel like I slept restfully, and spent most of the day in a fugue of sorts. Making another himmeli was the only productive thing I've done between Monday and today (and the damn thing only took less than a single afternoon—while I was half-watching, half-listening to Drishyam.

Filmi-digression: Drishyam was decent enough but anybody expecting Rahasya-level suspense and thrills will be sorely disappointed. Tabu was fricking amazing and my, my, my does she look so delish. I also liked Shriya Saran enough to want to watch her other Hindi and English works, namely Gali Gali Chor Mein and Cooking with Stella).

This I made with the cocktail straws which had the two constraints of being of very limited length and very thin.

Conclusion: himmelis are actually really fun to make. It's just that I've nowhere to dump finish pieces (my mother will flip if I tried to display every single project I've made—from all my modular origami shit to paper-cuttings, and now this himmeli crap). For now, my sketchbooks and other assorted tools are scattered between my sister's vacated room (aka my dump-yard) and the living room coffee table (my preferred spot for working on paper-cuttings).

I wonder if it would be possible to make himmelis in a sorta paper-pleat pattern (which is also geometric). That would be interesting I think. Guess I could continue to scale down my himmelis to make them wearable art (look out WoW LOL!) ...

And speaking of paper-cuttings, I've been working on this for a few evenings now:

The coloring-as-therapy craze that's on right now—I find that super stressful. I can never be a color-er. Cutting is so, so, so much more relaxing and therapeutic. I'm also very much into the geometric Islamic motifs and patterns right now—not only are they pretty, they're really easy to cut!

A Few Flicks

Hindi movies I watched since my blogging hiatus (in the order I watched it):

• D-Day

  I think I was in the 'serious' and action-type movie phase when I watched this. I liked the film but was really sad at how it ended for Irrfan's character.

  Sigh <3 Irrfan! (<3 <3 <3 Irrfan more when he collaborated with AIB!)

• Ungli

  Eh ... the flick was okay. It had so much potential but ultimately failed to deliver. Poor Arunoday Singh's role was so tiny, never mind Kangana's. WTF, if you're gonna cast her, her character needs to have more to do!

• Talaash: The Answer Lies Within

  Awesome. Film.
  
  Rani was radiant but I wished she had a meatier role. Bebo's character reminded me a little of her Chameli. Sigh, those Chameli days seemed almost innocent. So nostalgic ...

• Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!

  YES I FINALLY WATCHED IT! Even though I was a little underwhelmed by it (thanks to my high high high expectations for it), it was still good — a proper whodunit (though not quite as intense as Rahasya).

• Dum Laga Ke Haisha

  Awww, this was the sweetest film I watched this year. The chemistry between the leads, the story, the feminist-leanings — all quite lovely. Plus, for once, I actually like an Anu Malik soundtrack (mainly because of nostalgia).

• Desi Boyz

  Oh lord, why did I watch this?

  ... Prolly because of Akshay and Chitrangada Singh. GIVE THAT LADY A PROPER MOVIE AND STRONG ROLE ALREADY GODAMNIT!

• Dil Bole Hadippa!

  I want to like this but knew, going into it, I was never going to.

  Didn't buy the Rani-Shahid Kapoor pairing (because I don't like him). Don't ever want to see them as a couple in a movie again. I need to rewatch She's The Man to figure out which was a better take on Twelfth Night than Trevor Nunn's version (which I couldn't sit through).

• Don 2

  Ugh.

  SRK.

  Ugh. I really must try not to watch any of SRK's old films.

• Son of Sardaar

  Oh god, why ...?

  I must've been in the mood for something brainless when I decided to watch this.

• Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

  Ugh, no.

  Just ... NO. (For fuckssakes, NO MORE SRK MOVIES, GIRL!)

• Singh is Kinng

  Okay, I know this is a dumbass comedy but I was already well disposed towards it when I first saw the music video that had Akshay and Snoop Dogg in it. Man, that was funny! I even played it for my kids before my workshops.

• Khiladi 786

  Actually, I didn't mind this so much (even with Asin in it). I do love me some Akshay action-comedy. He's like the Jackie Chan of Hindi cinema — but so much MOAR SEXAY.

  AND I actually liked the title track (not so much 'Hookah Bar' though)!

• Singham

  Watched this for the sexay Ajay Devgn. Was not disappointed.

  If Hindi cinema decides to rip off Hollywood's Taken franchise, there are now at least two contenders for Liam Neeson's character — Akshay and Ajay. (But, all in honesty, if anybody wants the Hindi version to surpass the rather low-bar standard of the English one, then have a good screenwriter or two *coughReemaKagtiFarhanZoyaAkhtarAnuragKashyapVishalBhardwajTigmanshuDhuliaAparnaSenUrmiJuvekarcough* tweak the screenplay and cast Nawaz, Irrfan, and Radhika Apte.)

• Singham Returns

  More sexay Ajay.

  Did not like the Ajay-Bebo pairing. Wow, the age gap between the male and female leads is beginning to bug me more and more.

  Also, I just saw a picture of a prepubescent Bebo and Salman Khan together. The caption said she was being consoled by him. All I could think of was: HOW THE FUCK do you play the romantic lead opposite someone you watched grow up?! That's like a million fucking shades of gross ...

• Happy New Year

  You know, every time I think Farah Khan couldn't get worse, she pulls an even shittier film outta her ass.

  Lady, we get it. You have a huge crush on SRK. GET THE FUCK OVER IT. (On the other hand, kudos to Farah for not making her crush nearly as gross as Stephanie Meyer's on the Edward vampire.)

• John Day

  Sigh, another film with potential that failed to deliver. BUT WHYYYY? The actors were so good, why and how did the film fuck up???

• Cash

  Speaking of fuck-ups ...

  Well, at least I got to ogle at Sharmita Shetty's rather delectable figure.

• Chaalis Chauraasi

  For some reason, my mind is mashing up the narrative of this film with what I think are very similar films, like Barah Aana, Mithya, Ek Chalis Ki Last Local, The Film Emotional Atyachar, etc.

  But this film is still better than any SRK film.

• Gabbar Is Back

  I like these 'social justice' type movies! Which other movies are in this vein??

  The schadenfreude in such movies is addictive. Who doesn't love it when the little guy (i.e. your aam aadmi) sticks it to Da Man (corrupt govt/authoritative/wealthy asshats)?

• Break Ke Baad

  I ... must've been in the mood for brainless rom-coms. Imran Khan is good in rom-coms but he'll always be Tashi to me.

  That said, I'm looking forward to Katti Batti. Imran Khan + Kangana = WIN (fingers crossed)!

• Khoobsurat (2014)

  I'm surprised I liked this more than I thought I would — and I actually found it to have rewatch value. Sonam Kapoor does excel in playing ditzy girls although she really isn't much of an MPDG.

  Aw, the good ol' days of no-kiss Bollywood films ...

• Players

  Yeah ... no.

  I was still in Welly when this was shot (C and I actually saw part of the shooting at Jervois Quay/Civic Square area although I don't think I saw any actors, just the Mini Coopers). The film was dumbass-shitty, but the shots of NZ — specifically those of Welly — brought back memories. NZ will always be one of my first-loves (there are many types of first-loves: pole is my first-love aerial-type activity and NZ is my first-love country).

• Fox

  The story sounded promising. The movie was shit.

  Maybe it would've been better had they cast better leads than Sunny Deol and Arjun Rampal ... and can the goddamn song-and-dance routines.

• War Chhod Na Yaar

  HINDI CINEMA NEEDS TO COME UP WITH MORE SATIRES LIKE THIS (although with less slapstick, thank you very much). I love love love the song fights and the affectionate bickering between the Indian and Pakistani camps. We're all just human, after all — why can't we just all get along?

  (Because money. Yeah, I know.)

• Bajatey Raho

  This one's okay, but Khosla Ka Ghosla was so much better. If I'd known, I'd have rewatched Khosla rather than watched this cuz the plot is almost exactly the same.

• Mickey Virus

  I've still yet to watch a decent hacking-type movie. It seems like movies don't do computer/hacking well. Everything looks so dumb.

  Also, Manish Paul looked too old to play the Mickey character. That said, I would like to see him in more comedies in the future.

• Piku

  Have I mentioned how much I adore Irrfan Khan? <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

  And Deepika in a non-romcom role is always a win (see: Finding Fanny). Girl, give up those lousy movies and do more awesome films like these! And, for once, I actually liked AB Sr. in a movie (never was a fan).

  I watched this as I was eating lunch — I didn't know better. I do now ...

• Tanu Weds Manu Returns

  Well, I didn't finish watching this. Couldn't bear to. I didn't want to see Tanu mope over losing Manu. Girl should've hooked up with Kusum (or Raja). I really don't get Manu's appeal. He's not a very likable or attractive character. I'd rather Raja have more screen time.

  Can someone cast Jimmy and Kangana as leads (opposite each other) in a decent film, please? Does the Saheb need a third wife, maybe?

Multiply (In A Minor Key)

My guess: The almost-full moon, my period, and physically, emotionally, and psychically stressed and exhausted. So it's a 'Multiply' kinda day — that one with a soundtrack composed of 'Addict', 'Hurt', 'Multiply (In A Minor Key)' and X-Japan ballads.

Of course I did what I always do — shut down, went offline, and did a bit of therapeutic cutting.

It's the simple roll box which I got from Paul Jackson's Folding Techniques for Designers: From Sheet to Form to which I added random patterns I cut into the long-side panels. It looks okay, but I think the patterns should be planned next time so the two sides that each has two layers would look nicer.

I think for Hazel's gift I might do a shadow box/frame with different folds on which patterns are cut. White on white on white maybe.

As I was folding and unfolding, cutting, and refolding, I watched (casually, meaning with an ear open but without really watching the screen) Bobby Jasoos. I do like this movie but it's mainly because of Vidya; Ali Faizal did fuck-all and didn't look very compatible to Vidya. The story was interesting enough but the denouement was a bit of a letdown.

I also finished Bol Bachchan — oh lord why had I even started on this in the first place?! It's Rohit Shetty, ffs. Argh, why don't I ever learn???

It's ridiculous to feel so bloody fragile and sensitive that every little thing seems to matter and bruise the soul so much.

So tired, so tired, so tired, so tired ...

May Day

So this holiday, the only Hindi the free-to-air channel showed was Highway. Oh my god, YES. I finally watched it.

It. Was. FANTASTIC. Alia was a revelation and Randeep Hooda did a great job.

I cried when Veera's dream shattered; I cried when she broke down. I've always wondered what other people would do when this happened — when you managed to touch or experience or even just catch a glimpse of something so beautiful it's soul-stirring and changes you and your world, then it's gone ... because it was only a dream from which you have awaken. Something forever beyond you.

I thought Veera would try to kill herself, which I'd thought would be kinda 'happy', but the actual ending was actually better and even optimistic.

Anyway. WILL BUY DVD SOON!

Off-In-Lieu

Left work at 14.00 to drop something off with a friend who's leaving for an overseas trip then went home in time to avoid being caught in the torrential and awfully scary thunder-storm.

Anyway, came home, ate, and finished watching Ankur Arora Murder Case — which was very sadly disappointing. And where do I start?

For one thing, the songs really detracts from the narrative tension. Also, the little detour with the public prosecutor and defense lawyer was totally unnecessary. I think it could've been a taut courtroom drama/thriller by itself; instead, the trial (as well as the twist/denouement which both could've been a little more fleshed out) was given short shrift in favor of an extramarital affair that led to an unwanted pregnancy which resulted in an abortion/miscarriage/accidental suicide.

I guess the disappointment arose from my expectation that this movie would be as good as Rahasya (which incidentally also featured Kay Kay Menon and Tisca Chopra in major roles).

Anyway, what's next — should I continue with the gritty-type movies or take a break with some fluffy romance? Or maybe something middle-of-the-road, like Filmistaan or Sankat City or Antardwand ...?

Goes Away In The End

It's just one of those days, I guess.

Maybe it started with the news of the Nepal quake, which I'd read about before I even got out of bed. Then at aerial yoga, a classmate from India was quite indignant that not many people seemed to care — because, Nepal is a country that, as she said, is "not important".

So after cooking this week's lunch, I looked for a show that would indulge this downward spiral and settled on That Girl in Yellow Boots, figuring if an Anurag Kashyap movie couldn't make you utterly depressed, prolly nothing else would.

I actually like this movie a lot. The actors were all fantastic, but Kalki — she was the light in the murky shadows of the movie. And, I thought, she had never looked more beautiful than she did in the lift scene (back to the massage parlor after realizing who the father she had been looking for was) — pale and completely broken.

The sequence in the streets during which Prashant was looking to kill Ruth's father reminded me a lot of Chungking Express. It's not Christopher Doyle's signature frenetic style, but the streets and the crowds and the futile searching all came together in a way that was reminiscent of Takeshi Kaneshiro's chase and his (later) futile search.

I didn't really get the connection between the cult/god-men-pedophilia thing that Wiki mentioned, mainly because I think Arjun/Benjamin Patel was said to have been told to leave the ashram. Also, was Rajat Kapoor's cameo meant to be a red herring? If not, then it's a really weird and short cameo.

Anyway.

Nine Inch Nail's 'Hurt' makes my skin tingle. I guess it's a feeling, a — not need — want, that never really goes away but just hides right beneath the skin, waiting to bead, bubble, and surface with a scratch.

Or something.

I've always thought Maximilian Hecker's 'Rose' was the song to slowly bleed into oblivion to.

Day 2 of 2

What I watched today:

• Listen Amaya
  Watched this because Auntie Al's client/friend recommended it and because I saw a trailer of it and thought it could be interesting, but mostly because DEEPTI NAVAL.
  So ... it was a decent show. Made me cry a couple of times and Amaya really pissed me off. Don't talk about giving her a slap for her insolence and selfishness, fucking smack her already.
  Also, few times everybody burst into song and dance (especially right at the start of the film) were jarring and — I thought — completely unnecessary.
  This is gonna be a show I'd recommend but would personally never watch again. Because fucking Alzheimer. =...(
• Badlapur
  It took me over an hour after Listen Amaya ended to decide on Badlapur. I'd actually started on Raqeeb but the non-chemistry between Sharman Joshi and Rahul Khanna was too awkward for me. Anyway, Badlapur (does it mean "Change-ville"?).
  I'd been looking forward to watching this but having watched it, I'm a little pissed off by it. Nawaz was great as usual — I think he does the slightly sociopathic pothead well — but he didn't make the movie any less bitter.
  I did not understand Dhawan's character. Raghu should've been a more sympathetic character — he never was (this is not to say Dhawan didn't do a good job in this role; he definitely did ... and without dancing until the end titles were rolling!). I hated that he targeted and used women — raped Jhilmil; murdered Kanchan; humiliated nearly every female character who didn't have the decency to die within the first 15 minutes of the film.
  Not. Okay.
  Can't recommend this to anybody without prefacing it with TRIGGER WARNING: SEXUAL AND VIOLENT ASSAULT ON WOMEN.
• Billu
  It was either this or Ankur Arora Murder Case; since I'd just seen Kay Kay Menon in a non-villainous role, I thought I'd leave off a movie in which he, again, played a horrible person. Therefore: Billu.
  I think it could've been a much better film had they used someone else other than the King Khan. That said, I do get that SRK was a great fit. I just hate it when he does maudlinness (see: tearful speech at the school function). GAAAH.
  Irrfan Khan was utterly, utterly heartrending as the simple, decent Billu. When he doesn't play a villain, he always make me laugh and/or feel so, so, so sorry for him.
  Lara Dutta is the most glam woman in the whole village despite being perhaps the poorest. That woman isn't made for the village girl roles, I think. I mean, she did a better job than I'd expected in Billu; she maybe should stick more urbane roles.

And back to work tomorrow ... =( On the plus side, I'll prolly spend my day in the office feeling a little high from my cough and flu meds.

Day 1 Of 2

Managed three movies today:

• Zodiac
  This one is good. I found it a little too long but totally worth it. I would've rewatched it if not for its runtime of over two and a half hours.
  I get the obsession and it's such a horrible compulsion, but — boy oh boy — the thrill of the (paper/info) chase. YES.
• Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty
  After a great film such as Zodiac, I found myself in the mood for other similar movies but less ... heavy. So I decided on Holiday.
  I actually found this one enjoyable (despite the lousy role they gave Sonakshi, not to mention her pairing with another dude old enough to be her father) and I think it has a high rewatch value. In fact, I may even like this more than Baby.
  I like to think of Holiday as the desi Taken because there was a scene in which Akshay and the other pretty face actually had a telephone conversation along the line of "I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you". Off the top of my head, there are only two Hindi film actors I can think of who should play Liam Neeson's role in the inevitable Hindi "remake" of the Taken series: Sunny Deol and hamara ek number Khiladi.
  While I found the song-and-dance sequences a pain in the ass and totally disruptive of the flow and tension of the movie, I do appreciate the brief romantic interludes (even if they featured Chi Chi — cheeeee) because they helped cut some of the tension, but what in the fucking hell were Sonakshi's screen parents thinking, matchmaking their college-aged daughter with such old men?!
  Sonakshi's role seemed to have been shoehorned in just for comic relief. Couldn't the scriptwriter just find a non-romantic comic element (which I thought the Mukund character was meant to be)?
• Rahasya
  Continuing my unusual streak of decent movies was Rahasya. GREAT WHODUNIT!!! I'm not sure I have seen a (more or less) taut murder mystery in recent years. I wonder if the Hindi film industry has produced more such movies in recent years?
  This is also the first (I think) movie I've seen in which Kay Kay Menon didn't play a villainous role. His CBI Officer Paraskar is right up there with Nawaz's Khan (Kahaani) and Ronit Roy's Bose (Ugly). If Sushant Singh Rajput's Detective Byomkesh Bakshy is in the same vein, I'm pretty sure I will like the movie as much as I've been looking forward to watching it.
  God, I hope there's a list of great detective roles in contemporary Hindi cinema that I can use to guide my movie selection. The best detectives are usually eccentric, intense, and offbeat (yes, apparently my preference is heavily colored by RDJ's and Cumberbatch's takes on Sherlock Holmes).

More on day two? We'll see.

Sleepless Week

Yeah, that was last week. It was hard fall asleep immediately upon hitting sack, so I ended up doing little exercises and/or watching YouTube clips till 1 am. That horrible sleeping hour coupled with the time I had to wake (06.30) meant I was just tired all the time when I wasn't totally jacked up on caffeine.

So, not only did I not finish my readings for yesterday, I watched zero movies. However, I did manage to make it to aerial gym on Wednesday night with a couple of girls I got to know through aerial yoga, and saw many familiar faces (and got back on the lyra!) at aerial gym.

After discussion yesterday, we had dinner together again, and drinks again. I do like these outings with the QUILTBAG group. It didn't even occur to me to feel out of place until Auntie Al mentioned and asked me about it. True, I know nothing about and have never been involved in the LGBTQ scene here, but that is why this QUILTBAG discussion group is such an educational and illuminating experience for me.

I have to admit, too, having read the readings given to us I feel inflamed with desire — a need, even — to do something. To give back, from the privileged position in which I have begun to realize I stand.

Then, as I was walking my dog earlier tonight, I thought about the brainwave one of familiar faces at aerial gym had: How about we combine a space for cirque practique with a small kitchen service (that includes wine/alcohol)?

YES. To expand PH's idea further: Obviously, nobody should get up on an appartus when they're less than sober, so we can either restrict entry to the apparatus area once alcohol is being served; or, we install door bitches at the apparatus area. I know the people who go to the dance/yoga studios I'd gone to are all middle-class (and above) — or at least have disposable income. I would like to have these people direct their money to worthy (local) causes while they enjoy themselves. Also, the F&B area will have to source locally, if not from fair-trade imports.

The fact is, among all these lovely people I meet at the studios are people who can cook and bake (one of them even does it professionally), and are artistically inclined. We could beg for their help or hire them.

The only question is: How sustainable is this? My cynical and pessimistic side says: NOT AT ALL. With space at a premium and rent sky-high, unless there are angel investors and someone with good business sense at the helm, and a lot of hard work and long hours, this is but a pipe-dream.

Anyway. I felt the need to watch a silly Hindi film today to avoid feeling overwhelmed by my thoughts and emotions, so I watched Doli Ki Doli ... which was perfect because this movie was underwhelming.

There is no real tension, no real story, and there isn't even a character to root for. The blasé ending could've been ameliorated had Robin Singh not burned the damn 'looteri dulhan' file.

I mean, as Dolly herself pointed out, they do what they do because they're good at it. A better ending, therefore, would've been Robin smiling to himself as he reopens the 'looteri dulhan' file and continues his cat-and-mouse game with Dolly and her gang. Robin and Dolly could've met every so often when he catches up to her.

Anyway. it's an "AK" production so I guess I couldn't expect too much from this film ...

Only Three

Two Saturdays in a row now that I've gone out to dinner and some socialization with the group post discussion, which means fewer movies watched. Not that I rue the time spent not watching movies.

I borrowed four DVDs on Thursdays but only managed to watch two, and watched a Hindi film today. So the three:

• Collateral
  Uh ... watchable, I guess. A bit of the letdown in the denouement. I don't understand Tom Cruise's character at all. I prolly would watch it again if it were playing on FX or some other cable channel, but not otherwise.
• The Hundred-Foot Journey
  Was hoping for a sweet and gentle film in the vein of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, but nope. It's watchable enough. Inexplicably, I found Manish Dayal to be Julian Cheung's Indian doppelgänger — no idea why. It's food porn plus the delectable Helen Mirren and yet ... I found the movie insipid.
  I thought the bit after Hassan left for Paris was too rushed and not well fleshed out. Actually, maybe the movie should just focus on Le Saule Pleureur's and Maison Mumbai's rivalry, the xenophobia and racism (which resolves in two interracial relationships, yay), and the harmonization of cultures and cuisines.
  Also: Why did Om Puri play Juhi Chawla's husband?! He's too fucking old. Holy shit, I'd thought she was playing his daughter and that Hassan and his siblings were "Papa's" grandkids. Another also: I thought Juhi Chawla looked terrible and totally blame the lighting and cameramen and whatnot. How could they conspire to make her less than her radiant self?!
  And, goodness, the entire family must've been so traumatized to suffer through two major attacks by fire. Like, holy shit, that's horrible but they all seemed so very well-adjusted? I don't know ...
• Baby
  I didn't like this as much as I thought I would — and, in fact, found much of the tension in the film really contrived.
  If Special 26 was Neeraj Pandey's take on an Ocean's Eleven-esque heist, then Baby was his take on the political-ish thriller, Argo. That's just my uneducated opinion though. Baby apparently had great reviews ...
  Okay, but I must say there were plus points. One, Priya (Taapsee Pannu) could kick ass and take down Wasim Khan without resorting to below-the-belt hits (which I was screaming for her to do during that fight scene). I actually screeched, "Kick him in the balls! I don't know whether Neeraj Pandey is feminist enough to not kill you off as collateral damage!!!"
  So Priya is actually one level up from Constable Shanti (Divya Dutta) in 26 since Priya had something to do other than mouth throwaway lines. (Sadly, apparently the women who play Akshay Kumar's significant other in Baby and 26 are more or less as insignificant in one movie as in the other.)
  Second plus: Akshay Kumar shirtless! Can Kumar and Ronit Roy both be shirtless in the same scene in the next movie, pretty please? Needless to say, their inks should be allowed to show!

Okay, must hunker down to finish my reading AND finish watching the other two DvDs I borrowed by the end of this week.

Good Friday

Three and a half movies on Good Friday:

• The Italian Job
  Pretty decent, I thought, and great that the romance didn't come in until after the heist at the end and therefore didn't interfere with the narrative. It was a little clichéd but overall an okay movie during which your brain can switch off — and it has decent rewatch value as well.
• Prisoners
  Wow. This one ... I have no words for. I read its Wiki page and knew the whole story before borrowing and watching the show, but lord was it still so unrelenting. I felt so tired and drained watching it — besides Grace Dover's pills-induced uneasy rest, did no character ever sleep in the movie? Also, I must say Gyllenhaal was really great in this — he seemed like a completely different person with his facial tics and mannerisms. I felt really sorry for Alex Jones though and would've liked for his story to be shown to end a little happier.
  I'm sure there's a philosophical term for how the Nancy Birch rationalized her and her husband's not stopping Dover's torture of Alex Jones. Like, we're not the ones inflicting the torture; we're just not stopping Dover from doing what he wishes to do. Maybe it's like the Trolley Problem?
• The Prestige
  I just gotta put it out there: I think this is quite a pointless movie. Just two magicians one-upping each other at deadlier and deadlier costs. As Roxanne Ritchi puts it so very perfectly:
  
  Also, I watched the "Coffee and Cream" episode in Franklin and Bash (which is based on this movie, I guess?) before I ever saw Prestige so I wasn't impressed by any intended twist in the film.

I also started watching Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi but, however much I like Boman Irani, he couldn't make up for Farah Khan. So ... no. I don't think I'll finish watching this.

And I think Farah Khan should stick to choreography. Like her brother, the infamous Sajid Khan, she should stop directing (and script-writing also in her case) movies that aren't positive additions to the Hindi film industry.

Three

Just three today:

• Ek Chalis Ki Last Local
  Watched to see why it's considered a cult classic. Well, I thought it was a decent movie which reminded me of The Film Emotional Atyachar — in very basic premise of found money, a sorta femme fatale (Kalki in Emotional and Neha Dhupia in Last Local), how everything changes dramatically in a short span of time, lotsa deaths about which I didn't give a fuck, and Snehal Dabi who appeared in both movies.
  
  This movie the first thing I've seen Abhay Deol in and he was decent. I should try to find a comedy he's done because, for whatever reason, Zindagi Na Milege Dobara isn't something that interests me in the least.
  
  Nawaz was woefully under-used in this. GIVE HIM MORE IMPORTANT ROLES DAMNIT.
  
• Game
  I felt Game had so much potential to be a great thriller: Strangers brought together by a mysterious figure who knew what each of them did last summer (sorta). So much potential ... therefore so much disappointment.
  
  Someone — perhaps the scriptwriter — tried really hard to be clever and it showed. Yes, the movie showed how hard they tried to be smart but ended up being so dumb.
  
  Look, I'm the least critical of movie-watchers. I watch movies to switch my brain off, but Game was ... lord.
  
  First off, I don't know what kinda police Kangana Ranaut is supposed to be but even I figured the 'deceased' was left-handed when she was poking around his drawers. Secondly, really? Your field officers didn't have the stamina to outrun a 'civilian'? WTF? Thirdly, did it have to take the dicks that long to figure out Samara could potentially be the murderer?
  
  Also, you can't base a major red herring in your movie purely on coincidence. There's no way Samara could be certain there'd be someone who not only woke early but also was located conveniently outside of the 'murder' scene to provide her with an alibi. Also, how could a seasoned supercop like AB Jr's character not feel a pulse on the 'corpse' who was very much alive?
  
  Anyway. Whatever.
  
  The cast was stellar though, again, sadly mis- and/or under-used. Jimmy Shergill, Kangana, AB Jr., Bomani Irani, Anupam Kher — all very fine actors in this unworthy film. Sigh.
  
• Tevar
  I guess it helps having very low (to nil) expectations prior to watching this movie. I didn't hold it to high expections and understood it to be a masala flick on par with a very mediocre Akshay Kumar action-comedy. So I guess I wasn't disappointed at all.
  
  Only reason I wanted to watch Tevar was that it looked sorta interesting from the 'Joganiyan' video clip.
  
  That said, it's not like I don't have complaints about the movie.
  
  If I had to choose only one thing to complain about, it would be the Radhika character. Every time she appeared in a scene, I'd be like, oh for fuck's sakes, girl because this character did nothing but throw moon eyes in Pintu's way. GAH I wanted to shake her.
  
  This is the first time I've watched Sonakshi Sinha in a sorta lead role but girl needs to quit the moony damsel in distress roles, like STAT. I wish she plays characters more like what she seems to be like in real life — someone who doesn't suffer fools gladly and is assertive.
  
  The end of Tevar was very similar to Chennai Express I thought (similarly ridiculous).

A few of us had dinner together again after the QUILTBAG discussion yesterday. Someone opened a can of worms asking (those present after dinner) if we'd consider dating anybody in the discussion group. A big and immediate NO from me cuz I'm so much older than so many of them but also because ... ugh. It really makes me uncomfortable to even think about such a thing because I like the idea of this discussion group being a purely intellectual and platonic one — in other words, a 'safe' space.

I mean, nothing against the other girls who are open to this; I personally don't like to think that there might be some girls 'fishing' for potential partners in this group because ... I'm neurotic and have issues (mostly about the miasma of the concept of a 'meat market' which may trigger my social anxiety).

But, two girls (old friends) apparently like the same girl in the group so ... hm. I am a wee bit curious and would like to live vicariously through their infatuation! I don't think I'll ever crush on somebody I know personally.

Unplanned Day Off

I applied for urgent leave for today because my dad was unwell and I wanted to accompany him to the doctor's. (On a side note: GPs would've been useless if not for the fact that they dispense the necessary medical certificates required for medical leave.)

Well, the doctor's only took a few hours in the morning so I had the rest of the day sorta free. Spent most of it working on gamifying my online workshop, which was tough because I lacked the coding know-how and am using an idiot-proof web-hhosting service (i.e. just a lot of moving widgets around and WYSIWYG).

In the background though, as I was creating my workshop, I played two of the three DVDs I borrowed from work — Transcendence and Gravity.

Okay, I'll cop to not paying too much attention to Transcendence but, fuck, if my work was more interesting than your movie, you have a problem.

Transcendence was ... dumb. Sorry. Even Johnny Depp couldn't save this movie's sorry ass. It serves me right for not reading the 'Critical reception' on the movie's Wikipedia page before borrowing the DVD.

Gravity was, of course, waaaaayyy better. It was so good that it made me feel uneasily claustrophobic while simultaneously agoraphobic. Drifting in space into certain death is actually on my list of ways in which I hope not to die.

Having not read the synopsis before borrowing the DVD, I was disappointed that it wasn't as science fiction-y as I thought it would be. I found it a straight-up drama of one woman's journey into hope and a second go at living.

Followed the two English movies with Hindi ones — Hasee Toh Phasee and Krazzy 4.

Oh wow was I ever conflicted by Hasee's opening titles. The opening hums of 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' made me assume it was gonna be a shit film (because KJo and Dharma Productions), but then it was followed by ... Phantom Films which, in my books, produces great films.

What was I supposed to think?!

I actually have watched part of Hasee before but not its beginning. As it turned out, I did like the movie. Siddharth Malhotra was better in this than he was in SOTY and Ek Villain. Also, he played his character in such a way that really complemented Pari's character. Great chemistry, these two!

Krazzy, I'd thought, would be on par with Sunday — if not worse.

But NO. (Thank you Goddess!) Krazzy was so much better than I'd expected! Irrfan in a comic role — this fact alone would've made the movie FUCKING AWESOME.

Arshad Warsi also seems to share good chemistry with Irrfan so fingers crossed they collaborate in more projects.

Closing titles hinted at a sequel which I can't wait to watch if that project is a-go. What would it be called though — Krazzy 4x2?? LOL.

Weekend Roundup

Watched Ugly today after aerial yoga. Holy god, that movie is DARK (and human beings are just all sorts of fucked up). I kept stopping the movie and switching over to more lighthearted video clips, just because I felt a little suffocated.

I'm now reconsidering my to-watch list of past and future Kashyap-written and directed movies, which includes That Girl In Yellow Boots, the Wasseypur epic, and Bombay Velvet. Will I be able to handle them, or am I just a big wuss?

Like, literally almost nobody gave a fuck about Kali in Ugly. Bose's the closest to someone who gave a fuck, but his pathological need for control might be the driver of his perseverance in searching for Kali. Everybody looks out only for themselves — fuck everybody else.

I mean, I think it's a great film ... But I think there's a part of me that wished I didn't watch it. So much ugliness. Ugly is truly ugly, a horrible horror-house mirror for humankind.

I prolly need a brain cleanse.

And, hot damn is Ronit Roy's police uniform ever tight. Just like the one he wore in Boss. Just ... an observation.

Other stuff I watched between last Monday and today:

• The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions
• Ever After
  Finally! Hey, I actually like this more than I thought I would, and this is after factoring my adoration of Drew Barrymore. And I actually couldn't recognize Riff Raff!
  The 90s seem like a life ago — it was a very different life for me back then — so I'm quite impressed by how feminist I found it in my first ever viewing of this movie.
  What was a very pleasant wake-up call for me was when Danielle was sold to Riff Raff (I forgot what he's called in this movie) and I was like, oh NO, I hope the prince saves her in time! ... only to find that Danielle had the situation perfectly under control, fuck you very much, and didn't need saving. Seeing that, I was like, d'oh, WHY THE FUCK did I ever think she needed saving when she was the one who saved his sorry privileged ass??, and was totally surprised then mad at myself.
  And I think this movie passes the Bechdel Test too — even though it's really short, I really liked the scene in which Jacqueline tended to Danielle and expressed her sympathy and empathy to Danielle.
• Amit Sahni Ki List
  Thank goodness for my finding this movie as a cleanser for having watched Ugly. It's been on my to-watch list and I found it kinda sweet even though, with nearly all rom-coms, certain tropes tend to be rehashed to death.
  So in this we have the Indian Dharma and Greg because every dull investment banker needs an MPDG to show him how awesome life can be if only he starts living. (To be fair to the movie, Mala is totally my dream girl and I'm not even an investment banker.)
  And, HELLO, there are helluva stunning girls in this movie — Amit Sahni is one lucky bitch.
  I wish the best friend — sadly not employed under the gay best friend trope — had more scenes though.

Five movies again and I again managed to finish my reading for this week's QUILTBAG discussion. Lord, I need to spend less time watching movies. I certainly do not need to push myself to break this little 'record'.

FIVE

Quite a productive week, movie-wise, and having done this while having read everything I needed to read for the QUILTBAG discussion session yesterday — hell yeah, productive.

What I watched this week:

• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  
• Les Aventures extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec
  Wow, this is actually really lovely! Also, Mme Blanc-Sec is not just smart and witty and brave, she's really gorgeous! <3 I hope there will be sequels to this, like maybe how Adèle manages to save herself from the Titanic before embarking on further adventures in South America or elsewhere in Europe.
  
  Failing live action sequels, I'm down with animations, or even just English translations of the comic series.

• Ne Le Dis À Personne
  I wish more thrillers were like this — taut and tense right until the denouement. My only grouse is that Cluzet looks too much older than Croze for them to have been childhood friends.
  
  Okay, also the Bruno character is very conveniently helpful. Maybe a little too convenient and helpful. The woman assassin perpetually in a crop top/sports bra is super creep. I actually breathed a little easier after Bruno shot her dead (although for a long moment I thought she was never going to die — even her expressionless walking away from being shot twice in the back was creepy).
  
  Kristin Scott Thomas as one half of a gorgeous lesbian couple — WIN. The same-sex couple thing is very matter-of-fact and not made into a big deal (in 2006!). This is also one way I wish more movies would be like Ne Le Dis À Personne too.

• The Matrix
  So I finally watched this (I've been putting it off for way too long) and I find it interesting though nowhere as thought-provoking as Waking Life. I guess I waited too long because the movie seems to be showing its age too. Also, there seems to be ... I dunno, not loop-holes in the plot, just ... things I didn't get. Like, why did it take so long for everybody to find Neo? Is the Matrix not all-knowing?
  
  Also, if you're aware that 'life' in the Matrix isn't 'reality', why would you not want to learn to bend and break physical laws above everything else? I mean, "there is no spoon" should've been the rebels' motto from the start and rebel leaders should be drumming that into all rebels' heads. Mind over matter, as it were.
  
  I'm ignoring the quibbles in my head (that nagged away as I was watching the movie) because HELLO CARRIE ANNE MOSS IN LATEX. Lord, Trinity is awesome (less awesome when she falls in love with Neo — COME ON. Girl, Switch is much hotter than Neo is!!). I'm dying to finish the Matrix trilogy now and I hope Trinity develops even more awesome control and mind-power. (Not reading Wiki for spoilers!)
  
  There is one thing that Agent Smith said that I agree with though: that we are Earth's cancer.
  
  Talking about Agent Smith — it's prolly just me, but the first time I see an actor in a movie, I tend to fixed the character they play on all the future characters they essay. In Hugo Weaving's case, the first time I saw him was in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (the second movie I saw him in was Bedrooms and Hallways).
  
  So.
  
  Yes, I think of and see Mitzi (and Jeremy) every time he comes on screen. Wouldn't it be fabulous if Agent Smith were a less dour?

• Shor in the City
  I only watched this because of how much I like Go Goa Gone and it's not too bad, just a little uneven. True, I'd like to think karma is a bitch — and it's Ms Bitch to you — but not every character got bitch slapped by karma.
  
  Also, towards the end, I thought I finally saw Tusshar Kapoor play a character with whom I sympathize (when Tilak appeared to have died), but no ... Tilak lived. And for the better.
  
  I think the soundtrack for Shor in the City is pretty good too.

The soundtrack for Detective Byomkesh Bakshy was released sometime last week (I think?) and IT. IS. FUCKING. AWESOME. I liked 'Calcutta Kiss' when it first released on YouTube but OMG 'Chase in Chinatown' blew my socks off.

I'm so looking forward to that movie. The trailers released so far made me think of Guy Ritchie's Sherlock but I hope I'm wrong. SO EXCITE.

Listen to Detective-Byomkesh-Bakshy-2015 on Saavn

Weekend

I watched:

• The Lego Movie
  For some reason I'd thought this would be like Team America: World Police; it's not. I guess it's a cute flick for kids but it's just okay for me. My god, the message they just hit you over the head with. No subtly with this one ...
• The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)
  I only watched this because Auntie Al's friend/client said I should — the movie will push me to get off my ass and travel, said he. The thing is, I never had daydreams like those of the titular character. If I were as bored as him at my job, my daydreams tend to run a little more morbid, like the double-decker bus in which I traveled skidding and toppling over because it cornered too quickly and too sharply, or the overhead extension on which I walked collapsing from structural faults.
  Still, I thought the scenes in Greenland, Iceland, and the Himalayas looked gorgeous. For some reason — perhaps having seen it in a book previously — the Iceland shore bit looked very familiar, exactly as I'd pictured it reading the sagas and about the geography of Iceland prior to 1400 CE.
  I don't think the movie has made me desperate to travel — in fact, as I was watching the movie, I'd thought how well seeing things at a distance (on screen, for instance) suited me. I still want to see Pangong Tso first hand and hopefully visit the medieval sites around the UK and Scandinavia while I can still walk, but it's not because of this particular movie.
• Edge of Tomorrow
  Okay, I like this more than Walter Mitty, that's for sure. One, I like stuff that fucks with time; two, I like explosive stuff. And, of course, Emily Blunt.
  EMILY BLUNT. <3
  THOSE ARMS. <3 <3
  OMG HELLO THERE. <3 <3 <3
  Also, the movie is fun and funny. The mimics were super creepy though. Ugh, so gross.
• Bhool Bhulaiya
  Bought this yesterday after the QUILTBAG discussion session (together with a replacement copy of Khosla Ka Ghosla). It's pretty decent given that it's a Priyadarshan movie and I don't have high expectations when it comes to Priyadarshan, Rohit Shetty, David Dhawan (etc.) works. I thought it was a good sign it opened with Paresh Rawal; on the other hand, the musical interludes all seemed very forced. It would've been better to just confine the music to the closing titles — I don't really mind watching Mr Khiladi lip-sync once the movie has ended.

Anyway, I need to read more. I've been reading chapters from Chris Hudson's Beyond the Singapore Girl for the discussion session and it makes me so angry that such a man exists, that such men exist. Racist, sexist, misogynist eugenicists — these people just win the genetic toilet, I guess.

I'mma borrow this book from work tomorrow.

Read(s) & Flicks of the Month: February

Read(s):

• The Brothers Cabal

Flicks:

• Dil Kabaddi
• Special 26
• Daawat-e-Ishq
• Happy Endings
• I Saw the Devil
• Shaadi Ke Side Effects
• Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster
• Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns
• I Am
• Boss
• Barah Aana
• Sadda Adda
• Raajneeti
• hootha Hi Sahi
• Mithya
• Yeh Jaawani Hai Deewani
• Love Aaj Kal
• The Film Emotional Atyachar
• Om Shanti Om
• Fido
• Zombieland
• Dasvidnya

I have to start reading more (and the reading group articles don't count) — maybe I'll start by finishing the Cabal series. LOL, werebadgers, indeed!

Zombie Monday

Day off! (This was planning ahead — I gave myself a slightly extended weekend because I knew my weekend engagements/human interactions would drain me.)

So I decided the theme for today's flicks: zombies. Or, more specifically: ZOM COM!

I've never liked zombie flicks; movies like 28 Days Later and Dawn of the Dead give me the willies. I'm a coward and can't stand to watch horror movies. But zom com? That's a whole 'nother thing!

First movie this morning was rewatching Zombieland. Can't remember why I bought this in the first place but it took a couple of years from my purchase of the DVD to my watching it. The first time I watched it was last Thursday — and I like it very much! Lord, I would love to see Bill FUCKING Murray play a real zombie.

Second movie was Go Goa Gone (GGG) (which I'd bought on Saturday, together with Taxi and Fido). I was a little trepidatious about buying "India's first zom com" (the trailer I saw of SAK's terrible Russian accent didn't help either) but since I read that people who like Delhi Belly will like GGG, I picked it up.

MAN was I glad I did! What I wouldn't give to have Hardik meet Nitin — I'm pretty sure these two slackers will get on awesomely and they'll make a fine ass movie I'd watch the hell out of. (Also, Luv is basically Arup, but less mousy and with more hair.)

Imagine: two dudes with shaggy but beautiful curls (hairband optional) spending time on the couch, drinking, belching, farting, smoking (I can see Nitin as a Dude-ish pothead), eating, slacking, arguing about movies, and who should get up to get the door, fetch the remote control, etc. Yeah, I'd watch that.

I didn't really like the bit of moralizing at the end of GGG but it wasn't too terrible. Sure, don't do hard drugs but surely a bit of weed now and then isn't going to be the end of the world, right? Also, wasn't coke used to stop the zombies? Mixed messages, people ...

Anyway, the soundtrack's good too. 'Khoon Choosle Monday' is now my theme song for every Monday I have to be at work.

Rewatching Shaun of the Dead now, trying to figure out whether or not GGG borrowed anything else from Shaun, apart from the let's-pretend-we're-zombies-to-blend-in thing. (To be fair to GGG though, the character who suggested that also did say he got that from a movie.)

After Shaun, I think I'll rewatch either Fido or GGG.

Ah yes. Watching movies in my underwear and drinking cold coffee. This is my kinda Monday.

GIRLY MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

(That GGG opened with this old favorite already makes it winner!)

Weekend

In addition to watching Om Shanti Om on Saturday, I watched Phas Gaye Re Obama on Sunday. Actually, I started on Sona Spa on Saturday and tried to continue watching it on Sunday but, after the synapse-connection scene (OMG SO FUCKING DUMB), just couldn't sit through the rest of it.

Phas Gaye was smart and funny! I might've watched bits of it before as I got a sense of déjà vu during certain scenes.

My senior librarian also lent me Fido which I watched on Saturday. It's the sweetest and most non-scary movie with zombies. And Billy Connolly as the titular Fido, a zombie! NICE!

Shameless & Cheap

So they finally screened Om Shanti Om on the free-to-view channel today, saving me the mistake of buying the DVD and subsequent regret. (Thank you very muchly, Vasantham.)

Om is shameless and cheap. Actually, mostly just the 'Deewangi Deewangi' bit. I get — perhaps irrationally — fucking pissed off whenever old films are referenced, especially old films that aren't particularly good. Gawd, you drag all those 90s actors out, make them do a bit of a jig —like a trained monkey — all of five fucking seconds of screen time then they're nowhere to be seen.

No, I did get that the song was a post-awards function (aka The Great Circle Jerk) party/celebration thing. I still find that shameless and cheap. Way to draw attention to your not-too-great film.

The time I momentarily forgot that ostentatious gaudiness of stars from a bygone era in Indian cinema (although, to be fair, people like Dharmendra and Mithun Chakraborty are still in films, and Shabana Azmi is and will never be bygone) was when I saw Urmi! And Tabu! Urmi and Tabu in the same screen! Yay! Two of my favorite actors!

I don't know why I seem to have gone off SRK. That's sad ... because he's an actor I now assume will ruin a good film by just appearing in it (like Billu, which I'd put off watching for just that very reason).

Mental note to avoid all SRK, Farah Khan, Sajid Khan, and SRK+Farah Khan movies in the future.

Also, I'mma call Deepika Padukone 'Dimples' from now on. Lord, what adorable ones she has!