The colored lights, when I close my eyes, never stop dancing. There are blobs - shapeless now, and in a fraction of a second become something from a past memory. They change color - comforting and warm and then harsh and painful - fed by thoughts that run through. I hurtle at breakneck speed on an endless track, tethered to a dangerously rattling roller coaster car - alone with the belt cutting across my body. There are faces on the sides of the tunnel - grinning, mocking, angry, sad and longing. Not all of them are what they are. The worst are the ones that are longing - fragments of a memory or desire long gone.
I open my eyes to collect my thoughts and I realize that it was never - ever. I am just another one of those leather bound books with golden engravings on the rib and yellowed pages that talk of things that were never interesting. Those books that stay up high on the bookshelf - a constant reiteration of the image of intellectuality that an illiterate millionaire wishes to project. Removed for no reason other that the occasional dusting by the maid. A nameless book by a faceless author about things that do not matter.
Goodbye, cruel world!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Shyte!!!
Check this out!
I've been reading my old posts here chronologically backwards from the first one. And the comments as well. Besides having a shady reference to being single (yes, it still is prevalent in all my posts), I used to write a damn sight more that I do now.
But that is not the point...the point is this - this.
Now very carefully read the comment. And then do what it says - exactly. And then look at the first link.
Whoohoo...cheap thrills!
And 'spb', whoever you are - you have a lot of time on your hands and you are 'DA GOOGLER"!
I've been reading my old posts here chronologically backwards from the first one. And the comments as well. Besides having a shady reference to being single (yes, it still is prevalent in all my posts), I used to write a damn sight more that I do now.
But that is not the point...the point is this - this.
Now very carefully read the comment. And then do what it says - exactly. And then look at the first link.
Whoohoo...cheap thrills!
And 'spb', whoever you are - you have a lot of time on your hands and you are 'DA GOOGLER"!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Currently...
Reading
*Multiple City - Writings on Bangalore - Edited by Anita De. (Danke Goobe!)
*In Xandau - William Dalrymple
*Chai Chai - Bishwanath Ghosh
*Remains of the Day - Kauzo Ishiguro
*The 'C' Language - Dennis Ritchie and Brian Kernighan
*Introduction to Algorithms - Thomas H Cormen, Charles E Leiserson, Ronald Rivest, Clifford Stein
Listening
*Narrow Stairs - Deathcab for Cutie
*Zitilites - Kashmir
*No Balance Palace - Kashmir
////Update///
* 3 Rounds and a Sound - Blind Pilot
*I'm Wide Awake It's Morning - Bright Eyes
*Every Man for Himself - Hoobastank
*Antics - Interpol
*Turn on the bright lights - Interpol
*Multiple City - Writings on Bangalore - Edited by Anita De. (Danke Goobe!)
*In Xandau - William Dalrymple
*Chai Chai - Bishwanath Ghosh
*Remains of the Day - Kauzo Ishiguro
*The 'C' Language - Dennis Ritchie and Brian Kernighan
*Introduction to Algorithms - Thomas H Cormen, Charles E Leiserson, Ronald Rivest, Clifford Stein
Listening
*Narrow Stairs - Deathcab for Cutie
*Zitilites - Kashmir
*No Balance Palace - Kashmir
////Update///
* 3 Rounds and a Sound - Blind Pilot
*I'm Wide Awake It's Morning - Bright Eyes
*Every Man for Himself - Hoobastank
*Antics - Interpol
*Turn on the bright lights - Interpol
Monday, June 14, 2010
About trees and dogs.
A very long time ago - about five years, I told I friend, that I thought I was barking up the wrong tree. It later turned out that I _actually_ was barking up the wrong tree. But that, was a long time ago - it's been ages since I've spoken to that friend(?), the tree that I thought was the right one back then isn't (or wasn't) the right one either and there have been several trees since then. And all those trees in between were all wrong. The only thing that still holds is the canine allusion.
At eleven in the night, when you are perfectly sober and sane, you can't really blame it on the alcohol. Blame it on myself. Bah!
At eleven in the night, when you are perfectly sober and sane, you can't really blame it on the alcohol. Blame it on myself. Bah!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Kati Patang
Based on the Reliance advert. that is doing the rounds these days, I am inclined to think that Kites is exactly as the advert. makes it out to be - an storyline hacked together over a vacation starting with lying on a deck chair and seeing kites flying in the sky. Random bits and pieces patched together with an overdose of glitz, glamor and violence to mask the total insipidity that underscores the entire premise, plot and climax.
Original, it is not. I had this strange sense of flashback through out the movie - the scenes and sequence were mercilessly ripped out of various cult/classic/landmark movies. It always seemed as if I had seen this before, but with different faces and different voices. I can't seem to put my finger on all of the cliches but here are the few that come to mind immediately.
The opening part where a severely hurt Hrithik Roshan is rushed to the village doctor who pulls out the bullets in his makeshift OR is a sequence that has be beaten senseless by countless directors - drinking alcohol out of a shot glass, then using the remaining alcohol to sterilize the instruments and finally, dropping the offending blood coated bullet into the glass again. The first thing it reminds me of is the Bourne Identity - of course that happens out at sea, but the idea is the same (I wouldn't be surprised if that, too, was flicked from elsewhere).
When Hrithik sees Barbara Mori, underwater is another one. The earliest instance of such underwater imagery I can remember is from the Silk Route video - Dooba dooba (which I may add is one of my fave songs ever). The latest, barring Kites, I can remember is Blue. Now if you draw inspiration from a movie like that, it speaks volumes about desperation notwithstanding Lara Dutta.
The flashback in the apartment when he comes to find here smacks of Anurag Kashyap's DevD - bright red lighting and wide open eyes. And this was a sentiment that was equally shared by anddeep and anti-social butterfly. This is just one, and I am sure if I have the testicular fortitude to sit through the damn thing another time, I can find countless others.
The standoff and the shooting that follows in the rain when Hrithik comes back to look for Barbara is bang out of Sin City - there is little else that can be the way Frank Miller thinks and Robert Rodriguez executes. Dark nights, heavy rain and minimal lighting that throws people's profiles into stark contrast against the black. Strategically placed and colored neon signs to streak the character the right color. Another movie that heavily used this in recent times was Kaminey - the part where they find the drugs and then head to the trailer where Fahid[sic!] Kapoor lives.
This last one might seem a little bit of a stage two connect, but the climax simply reminds me of Gladiator. I don't know if I am being rude to Russel Crowe or extremely kind to Hrithik Roshan - just before he jumps off the cliff the look on his face reminds me of the faraway longing look on Maximus' face before he dies in the middle of the Colosseum.
All in all, it's a lousy movie filled with a lot of pointless things, fake accents and exploding cars. The cheap rip-offs leave you thinking about all the other awesome movies that they were ripped off from, rather than Kites itself. Anurag Basu - sincere advice - Vegas, Kangana almost doing a wardrobe malfunction and lots of Spanish cannot make a weak plot interesting. And just because Hrithik can dance does not mean his primary profession is that of a dance-teacher (though I know for a fact that women are impressed by guys who can dance and dance class is an excellent way to find a girlfriend) - he could have just as well been a photographer or a guitar teacher or a hairdresser.
Kites is best avoided unless you want to moon over Barbara Mori who seems to be one saving grace in the movie. She is beautiful and breathtakingly so - plain, simple and sweet. Just like the girl you always hoped you would meet on the bus or in the Metro. I am in love with yet another woman I'll never meet. Hrithik's physique makes you feel like a slob. Next to Steve Reeves, this man's poster will be among the posters in my gym (if I ever get around to having one). I have yet again promised to myself to run in the morning - it's been two days since seeing the movie and I am yet to make good on that one. The cinematography is good and mostly strong - except when there are closeups of faces and half the face is outside the frame. I am inclined to give the cinematographer the benefit of doubt and blame it on the editing and the screen that I watched it on. I just hope it can float around long enough to break even, though God and everyone else knows that it sucks!
Original, it is not. I had this strange sense of flashback through out the movie - the scenes and sequence were mercilessly ripped out of various cult/classic/landmark movies. It always seemed as if I had seen this before, but with different faces and different voices. I can't seem to put my finger on all of the cliches but here are the few that come to mind immediately.
The opening part where a severely hurt Hrithik Roshan is rushed to the village doctor who pulls out the bullets in his makeshift OR is a sequence that has be beaten senseless by countless directors - drinking alcohol out of a shot glass, then using the remaining alcohol to sterilize the instruments and finally, dropping the offending blood coated bullet into the glass again. The first thing it reminds me of is the Bourne Identity - of course that happens out at sea, but the idea is the same (I wouldn't be surprised if that, too, was flicked from elsewhere).
When Hrithik sees Barbara Mori, underwater is another one. The earliest instance of such underwater imagery I can remember is from the Silk Route video - Dooba dooba (which I may add is one of my fave songs ever). The latest, barring Kites, I can remember is Blue. Now if you draw inspiration from a movie like that, it speaks volumes about desperation notwithstanding Lara Dutta.
The flashback in the apartment when he comes to find here smacks of Anurag Kashyap's DevD - bright red lighting and wide open eyes. And this was a sentiment that was equally shared by anddeep and anti-social butterfly. This is just one, and I am sure if I have the testicular fortitude to sit through the damn thing another time, I can find countless others.
The standoff and the shooting that follows in the rain when Hrithik comes back to look for Barbara is bang out of Sin City - there is little else that can be the way Frank Miller thinks and Robert Rodriguez executes. Dark nights, heavy rain and minimal lighting that throws people's profiles into stark contrast against the black. Strategically placed and colored neon signs to streak the character the right color. Another movie that heavily used this in recent times was Kaminey - the part where they find the drugs and then head to the trailer where Fahid[sic!] Kapoor lives.
This last one might seem a little bit of a stage two connect, but the climax simply reminds me of Gladiator. I don't know if I am being rude to Russel Crowe or extremely kind to Hrithik Roshan - just before he jumps off the cliff the look on his face reminds me of the faraway longing look on Maximus' face before he dies in the middle of the Colosseum.
All in all, it's a lousy movie filled with a lot of pointless things, fake accents and exploding cars. The cheap rip-offs leave you thinking about all the other awesome movies that they were ripped off from, rather than Kites itself. Anurag Basu - sincere advice - Vegas, Kangana almost doing a wardrobe malfunction and lots of Spanish cannot make a weak plot interesting. And just because Hrithik can dance does not mean his primary profession is that of a dance-teacher (though I know for a fact that women are impressed by guys who can dance and dance class is an excellent way to find a girlfriend) - he could have just as well been a photographer or a guitar teacher or a hairdresser.
Kites is best avoided unless you want to moon over Barbara Mori who seems to be one saving grace in the movie. She is beautiful and breathtakingly so - plain, simple and sweet. Just like the girl you always hoped you would meet on the bus or in the Metro. I am in love with yet another woman I'll never meet. Hrithik's physique makes you feel like a slob. Next to Steve Reeves, this man's poster will be among the posters in my gym (if I ever get around to having one). I have yet again promised to myself to run in the morning - it's been two days since seeing the movie and I am yet to make good on that one. The cinematography is good and mostly strong - except when there are closeups of faces and half the face is outside the frame. I am inclined to give the cinematographer the benefit of doubt and blame it on the editing and the screen that I watched it on. I just hope it can float around long enough to break even, though God and everyone else knows that it sucks!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Currently listening
Alanis Morisette - Flavors of Entaglement
Amy MacDonald - This is the life
Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
Listen. Well worth the effort.
Amy MacDonald - This is the life
Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
Listen. Well worth the effort.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
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