Modern Family [2009-- ]

Currently, I have been watching season 1 of the show, and I'm liking it. I will keep updating how i like the rest of the seasons as comments in this post.
This is a comedy show based on 3 very interesting families that are also inter-related to each other - An American man with a much younger Colombian wife (and her son), a gay couple, and a family with 3 kids.
Their day-to-day trials and triumphs are shown as a 'Mockumentary' (Fictitious events shown in a Documentary fashion). This 'Mockumentary' format adds to the flavour and makes the show even more interesting.

Rating:

Season 1:    4/5

 

A movie eagerly awaited... The Hobbit

Peter Jackson did justice to The Lord of the Rings book. So, I am sure he'll do this one good too. You could say 'The Hobbit' is Book 0 of 'The Lord of the Rings' series.
The Hobbit is a story mainly of Bilbo Baggins' adventures, and took place before 'The Lord of the Rings' happened. I love the book and totally look forward to watching this movie because the way Peter Jackson depicts the Middle-earth is beautiful. Also, we'll get to see Gandalf, the great wizard, again.. :)

Movie description in IMDB

Life is Beautiful [1997] (Italian: La Vita è bella)

Tagline: An unforgettable fable that proves love, family and imagination conquer all

Another definite Must-Watch!!  This is an Italian movie that is truly beautiful.

Guido is a Jewish Italian who is quick-witted and has a great sense of humour. With the help of his humour, he wins the heart of a pretty girl Dora in a heart-warming romance.
The two of them get married, have a son Joshua, and are leading a happy, contented life, when one day their life is torn-apart by the Nazis.

Guido, along with his uncle and his son, is sent to a Nazi concentration camp. Dora manages to follow them to the concentration camp by going to the authorities and insisting on boarding the same train as her family. 


To help Joshua escape the horrors of the camp and safeguard his innocence, Guido pretends they are part of a game with a real tank as the first prize. Even in the torturous environment, Guido manages to keep a smile on his face in front of his son. 

There are scenes in the movie that particularly show how cold and selfish people can be, like the time when Guido's uncle helps a female guard and she gives him a cold stare, or when Guido's old friend (who is a doctor at the concentration camp) considers solving a riddle more important than helping Guido.

This is a movie that will move you to tears and leave a lasting impression on your mind. A movie that portrays emotions naturally and beautifully. A movie that completely deserves all the awards that it has garnered worldwide. 

I can watch this movie again and again and still love it the same each time.
Now you know where the title of my blog comes from.. :)

Rating: 10/10

Cyrano de Bergerac [1990]

This is a French movie on unrequited love, based on Edmond Rostand's play with the same name.

Cyrano falls in love with his cousin Roxane. But, he's unable to express his love to her as he thinks she will reject him for his extraordinarily large nose. Then, he finds that Roxane is attracted to another man Christian. Christian is handsome, but not eloquent in romantic poetry in the way Roxane wants. Cyrano being superior in matter of wit, words, and poetry, decides to help Christian by lending his soul to Christian's beauty. Thus, through letters, Cyrano writes as Christian and romances his cousin by proxy.

Cyrano's story is heartbreaking and is so beautifully rendered by Gérard Depardieu that you can feel each and every emotion that throbs through his veins.You laugh and you cry with him. You feel his helplessness, his love, and his sacrifice as strongly as he experiences them.

The sets are magnificent, nothing is over-exaggerated, and the humour interspersed with the script is good.

This movie totally deserves being in your must-watch list.

Rating: 9/10

Bride Wars [2009]

This story is not that unusual. Two girls fight over the same thing, then make up in the end.

Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Liv (Kate Hudson) have been best friends since childhood. They have been planning their weddings, down to all the minute details,together since they were kids. Conincidentally, they get engaged at the same time.
When they go to book their dream wedding destination, Hotel Plaza, the secretary makes an error and books them for the same day, same time.This turns the best friends into arch-enemies because neither of them wants to change her dream wedding destination, and they start trying to ruin each other's wedding.

If you just want to pass your time with a light comedy, this movie wouldn't be a bad choice. But, the story is nothing special or new.

Rating : 5/10

Julie and Julia [2009]

I like to try out new food dishes. And I am totally fascinated by anything French. So, my friend M (who i consider to have my kind of taste in movies) recommended this movie to me. The movie revolves around two women and french cooking.

The movie is based on 2 true stories- Julia Child's story of how she got started and got famous in the cooking profession; and Julie Powell's story of a blog she wrote on taking up a challenge to cook all the 524 recipes in Child's first book - in just a year.

The movie was not that great. The Julia part was interesting and Meryl Streep's acting flawless, but there wasn't much to like in the Julie part of the story. 

Some parts of the movie where they had pleasant-looking desserts made my mouth water just like M had said would happen. Yes M, I did like the movie, but well, it just wasn't that great.. :)

Rating: 6/10

Chupke Chupke [1975]

A very good light-hearted comedy. Newly-wed couple Dharmendra and Sharmila Tagore receive an invitation from Sharmila's jijaji (brother-in-law) to stay at her jijaji's place for some days. Sharmila's jijaji boasts of never being fooled by anyone and Sharmila is fascinated by her jijaji's intelligence. So, Dharmendra, in a bid to impress his wife decides to pull off a practical joke on her jijaji - with full support from his wife and his friends.
What follows is a delightful series of events.. Sharmila goes to her jijaji's place alone quoting important work as the reason for her husbands absence, and Dharmendra makes his entry as the new driver.
Dharmendra has fun pulling jijaji's leg in the pretext of learning English ("T-O is pronounced as TOO, D-O is pronounced as DOO, then why is G-O not pronounced as GOO") , and fooling around with Sharmila - sometimes 'chupke chupke' (secretly) and sometimes right under jijaji's nose (literally) :D

Adding to the fun, English Professor and Dharmendra's friend,  Amitabh enters into the prank in the role of Sharmila's husband , and then fools around with Jaya Bhaduri.

Sharmila's jijaji and sister, confused and perplexed, don't know how to react to the situations placed in front of them.

The Acting is convincing and the Storyline is good. Director Hrishikesh Mukherjee displays wonderful talent in comedy. None of it is overdone (as is sometimes done in the movies these days), and it provides plenty of laughs. Also songs 'Chupke chupke chal re purwaiya' and 'Ab ke sajan saawan mein', brilliantly sung by Lata Mangeshkar, deserve a mention.
Watch the movie with your family. This makes for a good watch - 2 and a 1/2 hours well spent.

Rating: 9/10


Ab ke sajan Saawan mein - I love this song

Videos

Run this town [Jay-Z + Rihanna + Kayne west]    
           Category: Adult Alternative, Alternative Rock,  Alternative Hip-hop
                    
Only thing i like about this one is the beat, and the following of rihanna's lines:

' Life’s a game, but its not fair,
 I break the rules, so I don’t care,
 So i keep doing my own thing,
 walking tall against the rain'

Not that impressive in the first watch. But, then i watched it a second time. And i think, then, the music grows on you. still don't like the video, and the song. But, i like the music.

Rating: 1/5


Beautiful Ending [Barlow Girl]
            Category: Pop, Adult Alternative

This is a beautiful song. The piano is played delightfully.
The video is made in a fairytale narrative fashion. Worth a watch.

Rating: 3.5/5

Fine [Jaymes Reunion]
              Category: R & B

Don't like the video. But, the song is nice.. :)

Rating: 3/5

Just Ain't gonna work out [Meyer Hawthorne]

              Category: Pop, R & B

The video is a nice idea . The guy carries along a big plastic heart that tells its own story each time it passes hands. Just like a picture can speak a thousand words, the imagery in the video speaks for itself. Nicely done!

Rating: 3.5/5

Saviour [Lights]
            Category: R & B


Beautiful! Love it!! :D

Rating: 4/5

Feel your love [Kim Sozzi]

Good beats. It's a different kind of video; full of shades of blue, maybe suggesting she is feeling the blues due to the distance between her and her love.

Rating: 2/5

The Stupids [1996]

Director: John Landis

Just watched this movie again. I remember watching this movie years back when i was a kid. My sister and I found it really funny then.

It is a very silly and stupid movie, actually, about a very stupid family. The 'stupid' family is so dumb that in real life, people would be left wondering why they haven't yet ended up in a mental institution. I wouldn't say the movie is really good or something to that effect. But, then, it's 'not bad'.

There are scenes which i think are quite nice- like the time when they

think they are dead, and take the garbage cleaner in a planetarium to be God, or when Stanley Stupid thinks of a Bee in his car as 'Drive B'.

It is actually mindless fun. The way it celebrates stupidity is kinda hilarious.

Don't expect too much or take it seriously. Just enjoy making fun of it and you'll do fine. :)

Rating: 1.5/5

Heroes- upto volume four

It's a television series created by Tim Kring, that tells us stories about various ordinary individuals, from around the world, who are not-so-ordinary.

Due to some structural difference in their genetic profile, these individuals develop superhuman abilities- like cellular regeneration, travelling through time and space, talking to

machines, flying, etc..

The Series is about how the lead characters, sometimes crossing each other on their paths , strive to 'save the world', and strive to make it a better place.

Season 1: (Volume one) Genesis

Season 2: (Volume two) Generations

Season 3: (Volume three) Villains,

(Volume four) Fugitives

The first season was really addictive. It would take an effort to stop myself from continuing with the next episode, after i finished with one. It was intriguing to see how the various characters went about trying to understand what changes they were going through, as their powers manifested, and how they strived to understand themselves better.

The second season was as good, with loads of new characters introduced into the storyline. I became a great fan of this tv show.

The third season disappointed a little in the beginning. There were some flaws in the plot that would jump out, so obvious that one could not ignore them. The story wasn't that captivating too. But, as the story progressed, the plot picked up and became more interesting.

Volume four was even better than the third one. And by the time I reached the end of the season, it had won me back.. :)

Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) and Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) are really cute. My favourite characters! :D

And I love those dialogues in Sendhil Ramamurthy's voice at the end (& sometimes at the beginning) of each episode. They have a philosophical touch. And they are beautifully written. Hats off to the writer(s).

Some of Mohinder's voice-overs:

The dialogue in Sendhil's voice at the end of Episode 24, season 3:

" For every being cursed with self-awareness, there remains the unanswerable question: Who am i? We struggle to find meaningful connections to one another. We are the caring friend, the loving father, the doting mother, the protected child. We fight, and we love, in the hope that somehow, together, we can understand our significance in the universe. But, in the end no one can share our burden. Each of us alone must answer the question- Who am i? What does it mean to be alive? And in the vast infinity of time, how do i matter?"

Episode 25, season 3:

beginning: " There are nearly 7 billion people on this planet. Each one unique, different. What are the chances of that? and why? Is it simply biology, physiology that determines this diversity? A collection of thoughts, memories, experiences that carve out our own special place. Or is it something more than this? Perhaps, there is a masterplan that drives this randomness of creation. Something unknowable dwells in the soul, and presents each one of us with a unique set of challenges that will help us discover who we really are. "

Run-time of each episode: approx. 40 mins

Rating:

Volume 1: 5/5

Volume 2: 4/5

Volume 3: 3/5

Volume 4: 4/5