(500) days of Summer

(500) days of Summer is for all those out there who have given their heart to the loved ones only to find out later that their soul is also gone along with. The narrator rightly said that it is not a love story but a story about love. So guys, next time when you give your heart make sure you keep your soul. And don't forget that there are plenty of other fish in the sea.


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On a helping note, never thought that removing some dust from the radiator inside the laptop could fix the problem of overheating leading to shutting down. Google has come to my rescue once again. Thanks a ton!!

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Of Despicable me

This year has been great for 3D-animation movies. The first one to have made the surprise was "How to train your Dragon[link]", then came the much awaited Toy Story-3[link] and finally Despicable me[link] joined the party. The one thing I liked about these movies is that they are not made only for children but for all ages.

The story revolves around a despicable Gru who wanted to become the super Villain of all time. He wanted to outdo another villain named Vector (who had just stolen the Pyramid of Giza) by stealing the Moon. He adopts three cute orphan girls - Margo, Edith and Agnes in order to achieve his goal. Then, its all about how the girls changed Gru's heart and life.
Gru's character is quite interesting - his long nose being notable. But I must say its the 3 girls that stole the show. They are cute and lovable.

Gru: Someday, I'm going to go to the moon.
Gru's Mom: I'm afraid you're too late, Gru. NASA is no longer sending up the monkeys.

PS:- Its a movie that will make you laugh and most importantly it will help you to come out of the dream world if you happen to have engrossed with Inception. :)

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Dreams don't make sense

An event that is a beginning; a first part or stage of subsequent events; origin; beginning; germination; prelude; cause; birth; outset; initiation;kickoff - that's INCEPTION for you and everyone is talking about this movie. Even after watching and reading every possible reviews and story about the movie, I still have some unanswered queries. Dreams don't make sense and the confusing ones are the best.And it takes a man of such calibre as Christopher Nolan to do it.


PS: I am going to see it again.

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How to train your Dragon

The title of the movie might be boring but I bet you will love it. "Avatar" raised the standard of 3D movies manifold, but this movie belongs to a category of its own. Wonderful storyline nicely paced sequences make the movie truly refreshing. Although, the target audiences are the children but the adults won't mind watching it. I won't reveal the plot here. And if you are looking for a break from your tiring routine, this is it. Enjoy the ride.
Btw, the movie ends with these lines -

"This is Berk. It snows nine months out of the year, and hails the other three. What little food grows here is tough and tasteless. The people that grow here, even more so. The only upsides are the pets. While other places have ponies, or parrots... we have dragons. "

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the harder the life the sweeter the song

Indeed, Crazy Heart is one of those movies which you can keep thinking over after hours of watching it.There are people who in the flow of life tend to have missed many essential things that he/she should have done.Only to recognize the mistake in the very end of their lives.But then its never too late to rectify those mistakes.
Talking about the movie,there were glimpses of "The Wrestler". And about the performance of Jeff Bridges in the movie, he played the character with a true crazy heart.But I would say he was lucky to have been nominated for Oscar in the year with not too many serious contenders. "The Weary kind" truly deserves the Oscar for the original song. The lyrics is simply irresistible.



Lyrics | Ryan Bingham - The Weary Kind lyrics

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the Oscar

"Avatar" and "Inglourious Basterds" were the only two movies that I had seen among the winners of this year's Oscar [link]. Avatar bagged 3 awards for the art direction, cinematography and visual effects. I would say the justice has been done. Until I watched the "Hurt Locker", I cannot comment on the 6 awards that it won. But the most deserving of the awards was that of Christoph Waltz for his "Jew Hunter" in "Inglourious Basterds". Only Quentine Tarantino can create such an unforgettable image out of a "milk drinking " character. Kathryn Bigelow's win for the best direction marks the entry and acceptance of women in yet another men dominated field. I am also looking forward to "Up" and the "Crazy heart".

PS:
Few crashes and bugs in the software can make the life of a Software Engineer miserable. Its a pity that happiness is dependent on bugs.

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Of Avatar

Woke up early just to find myself in the very same place, the same room. Watching "Avatar" had such an impact that I was hoping to wake up in Pandora. It was some experience. Its not only the 3D artistry but also the content of the movie that moves you. Avatar is not like the "Matrix" which you need to watch again and again just to understand it (no red, blue pills here:)).Also, its not like the "LOTR" and the "Harry Potter" series with a lot of sub-plots and characters. Go and get a ticket !
There were good liners in the movie and if I were to pick one, that would be this. Jake says just before he tames the Toruk.
"Sometimes your whole life boils down to one insane move. The way I had it figured, Toruk is the baddest cat in the sky. Nothing attacks him. So why would he ever look up? But that was just a theory"

PS:-
Beauty is transient. Time and age brings everything to the same level. And yes,I just realised this seeing this girl of my school days after a gap of 10 years.

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Of this and that

Would like to list few movies that I saw recently :-

1. Inglourious Basterds : The misspelling in the title is the Quentin Tarantino's way of saying things in his own way. Based on the World War II, its again another movie depicting plots to assassinate Hitler. And this time surprisingly the plan is executed with success. Brad Pitt is the only thing that I could remember after watching the movie.Still watchable.

2. Grave of the Fireflies: A really touching Japanese movie based on the story of two siblings - Setsuko and Seita during the World War II. The movie depicts the pain and ordeals faced by the people during that period. But the most touching being the relationship between the two siblings. One of the best anti-war movie ever made I would say.

3. Children of Heaven: Another touching movie on the two children- brother Ali and sister Zahra. Its an Iranian movie which depicts the tender relationship between the siblings when Ali accidentally lost Zahra's sneakers. Then follows the hardship and adventures to cope up the loss which includes sharing Ali's shoe together. Hiding from their parents about the loss and finally Ali participating in a race so that he can win a pair of shoes for Zahra. One of the best CHildren movie ever seen.

PS:
Down with flu(hope its the common flu), so took off from office for the first time in this calender year. I don't want any of my colleague grinning with suspicion whenever I sneeze. The thing is that too much information is sometimes dangerous. I googled "swine flu symptoms" and clicked the first page hit. It listed the all those symptoms that I am suffering from. So I just closed the page and start listening to my favourite play list.

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Of Love these (and those) days

I have not been watching any new Bollywood movies recently, the last one being (Bachna ae Haseenon). Yesterday watched "Love Aaj Kal" without (carrying) any expectations.

I don't know how to chew on this movie "Love Aaj Kal". Literally it means "Love these days".But the movie tried to portray "Love those days" too. So an apt title should have been "Love aaj aur Kal". News says it has broken all the records these year surpassing "Ghajini". Sometimes, you don't have to try too hard to get a hit.

And about the actors, Saif has done well. But we have seen him in similar avatars earlier (in Hum-Tum) playing a care free lad (read khula shaand). Then his role as the young sardar who is very serious in love too fits quite well. About Deepika, some people say she is good at keeping mum. As soon as she utters, all the charms fumes out. Her voice is not that ear friendly but anyways I'm always a fan of hers. And there was this lady Harleen Kaur. Just came to know that she is not an Indian but a Brazillian model Giselle Monteiro. She was here and there, but nowhere in the movie :)

And about the songs in the movie, I don't remember any :). Maybe I need to listen them again and again to appreciate it. So on a whole, its a movie you can still watch.


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PS:
Once you do a magic, you are expected to do it everytime. Sometimes expectations become a burden.

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Movies and the beetroot experience

With not many things to do during the weekends, I did what I do best- Watching movies. The last two weekends, I watched the following movies- Taken, Australia, Bolt,Valkyrie, The Reader. Some non-english movies- Revanche(Austrian),Il y a longtemps que je t'aime (German).
Watched Lord of the Rings -The Fellowship of the Ring again.
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Sometimes things can turn out unexpectly. Last night, I reckon that the only vegetable which we had was beetroot. Being very lazy to go out and buy something in the cold weather, I decided to stick with the beetroot. I thought of trying something new with it. Googled and found out - Beetroot sambhar. We still have some sambhar masala left. I have never cooked Beetroot before.
The recipe:-
After boiling the dal and beetroot separately, I heated oil in a frying pan and added mustard seed, sambhar masala, curry leaf powder. Then I peeled the beetroot and cut it into cubes and fried it with the dal in the pan for some time. Then I poured water and cooked with open lid until the beetroot was soft enough.
When it was ready, it looked like all beetroot :) I was wondering how it would taste. But luckily it turn out to be good. Thus, it was a nice experience with beetroot.
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PS:-
I was thinking what to buy from here . Everything seems costly. I was hoping atleast the Nokia phones would be cheap but it was not.

I have changed the look of the blog. Sometimes change is necessary!

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the Oscar goes to.....

Slumdog Millionaire- this time it was predicted and the prediction was right. Sometimes, you don't have to do much but need that speck of luck to be there on the top. Danny Boyle proved that you can win Oscar without the big shots from the Hollywood. What he did was to cast someone whom the world does not knew before.But then you have to have the talent like Danny Boyle has!!

Well, I would have proposed Freida Pinto before she would have become famous. Now, no chance!! I doubt even she had ever thought of being a part of an Oscar winning team. Its a wonderful world... Jai ho!

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To kill a Mockingbird -A tribute

I have read the book twice and seen the movie multiple times. I just liked it. Although I felt the book is better(maybe because I read it first then saw the movie) but the depiction of the same in the movie is not bad either. Throughout the book, I made some pictures or rather my imaginations about the characters mainly Scout(Mary Bardhem), Jem(Philip Alford) and Atticus Finch(Gregory Peck). The way it has been written and so touching at times about the daughter-father relationship. Harper Lee explore this through the eyes of Scout, the little girl of six. The kind of relationship that Scout has with his brother Jem is also nicely depicted.
Although the book was published in 1960 and it deals with very sensitive issues of rape and racial inequality, the context still hold true even in the present world.

"shoot all the blue jays I wanted - if I could hit 'em; but to remember it was a sin to kill a mockingbird. Well, I reckon because mockingbirds don't do anything but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat people's gardens, don't nest in the corncrib, they don't do one thing but just sing their hearts out for us. "

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Gran Torino

It has been almost a week I have seen the movie but the movie has certainly made some mark in my memory.I will not review the movie in bits and pieces. You can find numerous of those with a click of the mouse. The best thing about the movie is Clint Eastwood's presence. At 78, this guy is still rocking. The skill he uses in his movies in my opinion is called penetrating the viewer's mind. He tries to sort out what the audience would love to see. Even when the story is plain as a clear soup, he still manages to keep things interesting. The movie has some good one liners which is not uncommon in Clint's movies. There are certain points in the movie which he tries to depict. One is the changes that happen during one's tenure. The cultural and the generation gap. Another point is that you always get the chance to be good again. Some people are not really bad at heart but just that they are rough or have become hard due to some past incidents.

Although the movie didnt get the nomination for the Oscar, but its running quite well all over the globe. I would have surely liked to see alongside the Slumdog Millionaire.

So tenderly your story is
nothing more than what you see
or what you've done or will become
standing strong do you belong
in your skin; just wondering

gentle now the tender breeze blows
whispers through my Gran Torino
whistling another tired song

engine humms and bitter dreams grow
heart locked in a Gran Torino
it beats a lonely rhythm all night long
it beats a lonely rhythm all night long
it beats a lonely rhythm all night long

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Zindagi ke safar mein Rock on

These days I 'm into the songs of "Rock On".. Listening to the songs numerous times. I don't remember when was the last time I had listened to a song so religiously. I knew these are not the songs of my type, but somehow I loved the songs. With time people and their taste changes.The kind of dedication I had in my school days following Kishore Kumar's song. Thank god, I can now sing the "Pichle saat dinon mein.." confidently at least while having bath :). I still remember those days when trying to learn Kishore Kumar's song... with limited resources. Then, we don't have the internet,no ipods and of course no computer... With impromptu lyrics, we would then continue humming...filling the gaps with "as you wish " words.





PS: On a different note,I was wondering:-
- How do people manage earlier when there were no mobile phones and no internet?When there was no ipods and no DVD players?...

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Rock On!!

Few things I felt after watching it:-
1. The movie is not boring.
2. The songs were not of my type but I enjoyed it. Thnks to Javed Akhtar for writing differently from what he usually writes.Shankar-Ehshaan-Loy rocks as usual. Farhan Akhtar with his raw voice makes it look real.
3. The storyline is strongly a reminiscent of DCH(Dil chahta hai) and Jhankaar Beats.
4. It carries a message to follow your dreams. It is never late to do something you like most. Most of us land up doing what we dont actually enjoy doing. As an e.g I m writing lines of codes:) sitting in a cubicle.

Below is an excerpt from a song in the movie:-
Meri Laundry Ka Ek Bill,
Ek Aadhi Padi Novel…
Ta Ra Ta Ta Ta ….Ta Ra Ta Ta Ta…
Ek Ladki Ka Phone Number,
Mere Kaam Ka Ek Paper…
Ta Ra Ta Ta Ta ….Ta Ra Ta Ta Ta…
Mere Taash Se Heart Ka King,
Mera Ek Chandi Ka Ring
Pichhle Saat Dino Mein Maine Khoya
Kabhi Khud Pe Hansa Main
Aur Kabhi Khud Pe Roya
...............

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Joker has the edge but Batman prevails

The Dark Knight
Ever since I was a kid ,I love and hate Batman for different reasons. Unlike other super-heroes, he is like you and me,a normal guy. He is rich and has lots of gadgets.He always tries to improve his weapons.I hate him only because he is vulnerable and weak at times.He has numerous limitations.
I am not going to reveal the plot of the movie(for those who are yet to see) but it deserves to be praised and discussed on the various points. Christian Bale played the character of Batman and Bruce Wayne with perfection. The character who had stolen the limelight is Heath Ledger playing the role of the psycho Joker.I'm sure whenever we talk about Batman,Heath Ledger would be remembered for his performance in the movie.I haven't seen Jack Nicholson as Joker, but I bet Ledger had won this time.When he says "Why so serious?" with a knife in his hand, he looks so real.The way he explains how he got the scar and all,its simply awesome(no other words).
His style of convincing is again unique.He simply enjoys the role and the dialogue delivery.He simply made the audience glued to the screen everytime he delivers them. Although he is no more, he has made the Joker's character immortal.The other characters too played their part well but it was the Joker's movie all in all.
The visual effects and stunts are one of the strengths in the movie. You expect from a Batman movie.The scene in which Batman crashes his car and then finally turning it to a bike was awesome. The chase scene in whichhe manage to capture Joker is worth watching multiple times.
The movie also depics the love interest and the various limitations of Batman.Some viewers would complain about the complexity in the plot but you need to be a keen listener.
Quotes with proper timing can do wonders to a movie. You can hear claps everytime a good quote is delivered.The movie ends with Gordon explaining his son why the Batman is running although he has not done anything wrong
"Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now...and so we'll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he's not a hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector...a dark knight. "

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The Lives of Others - Sarkar Raj

This weekend I watched two movies - one a very good German movie"The Lives of others" and the other a not so good Hindi movie "Sarkar Raj". It won't be fair to compare the two movies since they fall into two different categories.

"The Lives of Others" is an academy Award winning movie for the best foreign movie 2007. It depics the era around 1984 in East Germany wherein a person can be spied based on political powers for personal gains by higher officials. It display the era when the freedom of expression were suppressed. But then there are good people like Georg Dreyman who have always fought against injustice, who had expressed their ideas through writings and press. The movie also depics the human quality to help others when they knew they can. Gerd Wiesler risks his job and life to save Dreyman and his wife. Although he could not save Dreyman's wife ,he decided to remain anonymous for the deeds. I love the ending of the movie when Wiesler saw the advertisement of a book written by Dreyman. He read the acknowledgement "To HGW XX/7, with gratitude ". He decided to buy the book and, when asked if he wants it gift wrapped, he responds quietly "No, it's for me..."

"Sarkar Raj" - A movie by RGV(Ram Gopal Verma). Being a gr8 fan of The Godfather series I decided to watch the movie. I wanted to see how well they have copied. But then the movie is not a real copy of the Godfather although we can see some chunks here and there being taken from the original. The movie is watchable only because we dont get to see good hindi movies in the recent past (Aamir's Taare zameen per was the last movie I enjoyed). The Bachchans have put their efforts to make this movie. The old Bachchan and his son have delivered with intriguing dialogues deliveries but the new member (Aishwarya Bachchan) look pale and helpless as if she was seaching for a role in the role. The movie would have been much better if RGV would have mad the storyline much simpler. The ending could have been made a layer above the final twist...but then it was a far better ending than that of the Race...

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Counterfeiters had a nice time with Prince Caspian while Harold and Kumar go to White Castle,The Mongols had already conquered The Forbidden Kingdom

Another week has gone and I m ready with a pile of movies again. The best part of being a Software Engineer is the fact that you always have time to watch a movie everyday no matter at what time you are back from office :-).

The Counterfeiters(German: Die Fälscher) :It takes a clever man to make money, it takes a genius to stay alive.When I read this tagline in http://www.imdb.com/ ,it killed me. Truely deserve the Oscar for the best foreign movie 2008.It is based on the true story of the largest counterfeiting operation in history.If you have not watched it.. jst go and watch..

Prince Caspian:- Being a gr8 fan of its previous sequel the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I would not complain anything.But, I loved the first one. Although lots of efforts has been put in to make this movie, the outcome has been disapointing. Anyway Prince Caspian can be a nice name for someone looking a name for his newly born baby ;)

Mongol:Greatness comes to those who take it. It depics the early life of Temudgin and the hardship to become a gr8 conqueror whom the world knew as Genghis Khan.The movie is filled with good action scenes. Mongol portrait Genghis khan not as a ruth and brutal conqueror but as an inspiring and fearless leader.

Harold and Kumar go to WhiteCastle:-This movie was recommended by a fren. Its a 2004 movie but its never late to watch a movie. The movie rekindled my love for a good meal. Its about the misadventures of these two frens in their pursuit for a fast food restaurant "White Castle". I loved the final scene before the credit wherein Harold and Kumar were portrait as a Squinting Asian and a Sikh man with a turban.

The forbidden Kingdom:- Finally the forbidden kingdom. Lots of fight and fly. Jackie Chan and Jet Li flies, kicks in the air and move as fast as a lighning. Why the Monkey King leaves only a single hair... how that stick(magic staff) find its way to America. ... still its worth watching.. but only once.

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No Country for Old men

If you want to feel like a mouse when you are being followed by a Cat, then watch this movie. Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, a truly crime thriller. Its about hunting and being hunted. Sometimes the hunter becomes the prey and sometimes the prey becomes the predator. When I say I loved the movie, it doesn't mean that others should also like it. The very first notion you would have about the title of the movie would make you believe that it would be about some old people finding a place to live in. The movie engulfs you within its characters and then you started feeling like it is never very easy to hide yourself from someone following you particularly when you are involved with a large sum of money.
If you want me to define the word "psycho"- then the synonym would be Anton Chigurgh(Javier Bardem). He would make you believe that death can come to you in any form. When it comes nothing can stop. He plays the character of a hit man who would kill anyone who comes in his pursuit for Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), who had ran away with a large sum of money from a drug deal gone bad. Chigurgh, with his unique weapon, a cattle gun.The bolt is actuated by a trigger pull and is propelled forward by compressed air. He uses it to kill people and to open cylinder locks with perfection. Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), tries to protect Moss but could not save him. Moss is killed in a shootout with the Mexicans.It is also shown that Chigurgh survives from an accident and he moves on.
The movie ends with Bell telling his dream to his wife. The first dream tells about losing some money his father had given him. In the second dream he tells that his father is carrying fire in a horn and is going ahead of him in a dark and cold snowy mountain pass. He feels that his father would be still waiting for him trying to make fire. The movie ends with Bell saying "And then I woke up".
This very end frustrates people who didn't get what Bell wanted to convey. The meaning can be inferred in many ways. The ending truly apt with the title of the movie which conveys that there would be no end to the crimes and people like Chigurgh would always get escaped. And that it would make no difference of any kind with a single person like Bell,an old man who gave up trying to stop crime from the society. He feels that there is no role for an old man like him in the pursuit of a killer like Chigurgh. He says he would be replaced by a young blood. Though his dream he conveys that, he would follow his father who would be waiting for him in a dark and snowy pass. It shows his inability to make any difference .............

PS :The above post is truly a product of my own words after watching the movie with reference from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Country_for_Old_Men_(film).

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