Now Playing: Go Goa Gone & Gippi

Please post all the news/views and updates for this week’s films here.

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Thoughts on Oblivion

As a big fan of the sci-fi genre, it often saddens me to see the same old Aliens attacking the earth and wearing slightly different costumes every time. Somehow someone always turns out to be the hero and saves planet earth. All the innovation on the part of filmmakers is spent on the guns, artillery and destruction images. For me, this doesn’t work at all. What I desire to see in a Sci-fi movie- more importantly a movie dealing with Outer Space are images- Strong images that emphasizes on the idea of the life beyond earth or far from earth. This is where 2001: A space Odyssey succeeded in an almost unparalleled way. Those visuals that showed the outer space or should I say the Director’s (or the novelist’s) imagination of the outer space. Those images and the strong focus and pause on each and every image are what made it so much special. Similarly Danny Boyle’s Sunshine or Duncan jones’s Moon worked for me big time- both have them having strong focus on the visuals and done subtly.

Watching Oblivion was a great experience for me. It’s quite different from what’s shown in the Trailers. It’s such a breath of fresh air from the loud action zero story science fiction which have less science in the fiction. The most striking feature of the film is its visuals. From Tom cruise’s Aircraft to the monitoring system to his station where he lives are all simply stunning, There’s a scene where the lead actress goes bare body in a swimming pool- Trust me if you will- the beauty of that scene is not the actress’s body but the swimming pool. The Images of a nuclear struck Earth and the mini twists in the story compliment the visuals beautifully. It’s a long 2 hour plus film and believe me, I was ready to watch it again once it got over.

The story is very good if not great and even though I could guess the twists and turns, I liked it that they were there. The first 30 minutes and the last 15 minutes are visually stunning. Tom Cruise is perfect for this role. It’s amazing how calmly he portrayed a character which could have been done horribly wrong by some other actors. Tom displays the right emotions and manages to depict his attachment to his planet through his monologues and gestures.

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Ihab’s movie thread- Movies you watched in May, 2013

The thread for May, 2103 is now open. Here are a few movies that I have watched in the first 3 days.

Witness

Witness is a 1985 Thiller-Drama movie centered around a cop who somehow finds himself living amongst the Amish people. For those of you who aren’t aware of who Amish people are- “Amish people are a christian minority based in Philadelphia (also in some other parts of US). Their life style is extremely traditional to a point of not using any vehicles, electricity or sometimes even money. In short a drastically different lifestyle from the rest of the world.
Harrison Ford plays the Cop who is the prime investigator of a murder case whose only witness is an Amish boy (Lukas Haas- the guy who was in inception too) The film begins as a thriller and one gets the feeling that its going to be a good one at that but what it turns out top be for most of the rest of its duration is a strong emotional drama. Its fascinating to see how a non-believer in god fits in the Amish world. Some scenes are really well shot and the ones depicting the difficulties of Amish culture and the strength with which they handle it are amazing. There’s a brilliant scene in the movie where hundreds of Amish men build a home for a young Amish couple in a day. Its a simple scene with great visuals and brilliant background music. That scene alone is worth watching the film. The love story between Ford and the Kelly Mcgills (who plays the widowed mother of the Amish boy) is brilliantly filmed. Its without any words or much action between the leads.
The only place where Witness fails is the at the basic plot of the movie- the murder case, the witness and the supposed thrill. The ending (regarding the murder case) is rushed and very unconvincing. Thats where the movie falters. As a thriller Witness is passable but as a Drama it is highly recommended. If not for anything else, watch it to get a view into the amish world.

Witness- 7.5 on 10

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A note on Commando

Following is not essentially a review but more of what I feel about action movies with Commando being the case in point. Speaking strictly from a business perspective, wouldn’t it make more sense if there were more movies that catered … Read More

SRK didn’t tell me Bobby was replaced: Juhi

Juhi talks about her changing equation with Shah Rukh and rivalry with Madhuri

 

We caught up with Juhi Chawla on the sets of Gulab Gang and the actress was looking leaner than her usual self. “I have been under the weather for the past three days,” she said looking anything but. Apart from the new and improved look, what was conspicuous was the absence of her omnipresent secretary Sanjay KS. And this got us curious…
Seems, we are seeing a new Juhi. What happened to Sanjay KS, your secretary of over two decades? Things have changed and I have decided to let go of the old ways of doing things. Now, I have an agency, which looks into my endorsements and films. Importantly, I am not competing with anybody. Filmmakers know my acting capabilities and I am just a phone call away.
After so many years, you and Madhuri are finally working together. How did it happen? When you are flying too high, many a times, you let your ego take the decisions. In my case, I ended up making Karisma Kapoor a star in the process (laughs). I was the first choice for Raja Hindustani. Also, she went on to do Dil To Pagal Hai, which was offered to me first. Coming to Gulab Gang, I was bowled over when I learnt that they wanted me to play a negative role. Madhuri is the hero and I am the villain. We tried to modify few lines for the role, which wasn’t written with me in mind, but realised the changes would take away the punch. So we went ahead with it in its original form.
What is the equation between you two on the sets? Now, it is nice (smiles).
QSQT is turning 25 this year. Are you attending the reunion organised by Aamir to celebrate the occasion on April 29? I am looking forward to it. It would be great fun to meet the cast and crew. I have met Aamir and Imran at functions, but we haven’t ever sat down and chatted.
Over to SRK. It seems your friendship with him isn’t the same as before… (Shakes her head) Why would I fall out with anybody? I still treat everyone the same. But yes I don’t reach out to people as often as I used to—be it with Shah Rukh or any one else. Today, nobody has time for friendships.
Buzz is, the friction between SRK and you started when he replaced your brother Bobby with Venky Mysore as the CEO of Red Chillies, without informing you. Your comments. I don’t know if I was informed before or after Venky assumed office, but it was Venky who called me and told me about the development.
SRK didn’t inform you? No.
Did you feel bad? Yes. But not because SRK didn’t inform me. In fact, I told Venky ‘please go ahead and take up your new assignment’. But suddenly I started feeling bad because it struck me that the job, which my brother did so efficiently for the longest time, will now be done by someone else.
How is Bobby now? Heard you shifted him to Jaslok? Yes, he is in Jaslok now. As for the first part of your question… (suddenly she looks up and tries hard to control her emotions).
Now that your kids have grown up a little, would we see you doing more films? Jhanvi is 12. Arjun is just 10. I am still spending a lot of time with them. I love to teach them Hindi and Mathematics–the two subjects I am very comfortable with. Jhanvi wants to be a writer. Arjun is an all rounder who is yet to make up his mind about his future. But they aren’t idolising any actor. They don’t even watch my films.
Why haven’t you worked with Salman till date? (Laughs) Sometimes Salman will be nice but sometimes I can’t fathom what is going on in his head.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/SRK-didnt-tell-me-Bobby-was-replaced-Juhi/articleshow/19720469.cms Read More

Good Old TV- Part 1- Katha Sagar : Pratiksha

Ihab’s movie thread- Movies you watched in April, 2013

The thread for April,2013 is now open.

Here are the movies that I watched

1) Sleeping with the Enemy – The original for Agneesakshi A torturous husband treats his wife like his slave. He is madly in love with her but at the same time has a evil way of showing it. blah blah…wife escapes..blah blah… The movie in a nutshell is as pointless as it could get. Why the hell could an American woman not divorce this devil husband of hers.. Where was the thrill in the story? What was the point of the last 40 minutes before the climax?

To be really honest Agneesakshi, though a remake was 10 times better than this (minus the songs , of course) Despite having a good cast(which btw includes, the ever so beautiful Julia Roberts) and decent performances the movie simply falls flat when it comes to the plot or point of such a film.. A boring watch

4 on 10

2) The Call WWE films finally get it right with “The Call” (although I am yet to see Dead man Down) . Its a sharp thriller with no real mystery or suspense but its the whole execution of the events that make it gripping. A girl has been kidnapped by a Serial Killer and its the story of how she somehow makes a call to 911 and what happens after. More than 70% of the movie takes place during the call made by the girl- Abigail Breslin (remember Olive from Litle miss sunshine) to the 9-1-1 operator Hally Berry. What fascinated me most was how the whole movie is based on the functioning of 9-1-1 and the police system. Their synchronization and how important is the role of a 9-1-1 operator. How small things can lead to disastrous situations and how small ideas can take you out of death’s grip. The Call is quite engaging for most of its duration but the climax would definitely disappoint after the great build up. Despite its final minute flaws I would still recommend it.

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Novartis loses landmark India patent case on cancer drug

India’s Supreme Court ruled against the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis on Monday in a landmark judgment with significant implications for India’s giant generic drugs industry.

“This means millions of patients in developing countries can go to sleep tonight knowing their drugs are on the way from India,” said Leena Menghaney, a lawyer with the Access to Essential Medicines Campaign of Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders). Globally more than 10 million people living with HIV-AIDS rely on Indian generic medications, including many who are treated by MSF; the fate of their drugs hung in the balance in this decision, which pitted Novartis against the Government of India’s patenting system.

Novartis India Ltd. president Ranjit Shahani said the decision is a “setback for patients” because it will hinder progress in developing new treatments for illnesses that now lack them, and creates a chilly climate for multinational firms looking to invest in India because it calls into question the country’s respect for intellectual property.

“Patents are the foundation of innovative drug discovery and essential to advancing medical science and treatment for patients,” he said. “Patents are the lifeline for the generics industry for without patents there will be no new generics … the ecosystem for encouraging intellectual property needs to be more robust in India – it has on the contrary progressively deteriorated. All this has a huge impact for patients.”

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Scene of the Week- Week 60- Mirch Masala

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Bombay Talkies- Poster : directed by Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee and Anurag Kashyap

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Same Same ?

Tamannah and Shreya Ghoshal

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Vipul Shah and Faridoon Shahriyar

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Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani – Official Trailer

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Why these filmmakers met Steven Spielberg

A couple of days ago Steven Spielberg was in India and apparently 61 filmmakers attended his masterclass. Now I don’t know all 61 one of them but here’s my idea why some of them were there.

Abhishek Kapoor – He wanted to make yet another movie on friendship and wanted to cast Dino-the Jurrasic Park Dinosaurus , Abraham the Lincoln and one of the many aliens in many of steve’s masterpieces. Allah ke naam pe ek alien de de re baba.

Anurag Kashyap – He wanted Spielberg to learn to speak French and read hindi and see Gangs of Wasseypur’s French DVD (with hindi subtitles) and then tweet about it, so that he can retweet it.

AR Murgadoss- He wanted to tell Spielberg that he should learn from Christopher Nolan to make impossible to understand movies like Memento so that the desi junta can’t get a thing of it and he can remake it with 4 songs and south indian action.

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Delhi rape case: Main accused Ram Singh commits suicide in Tihar Jail

NEW DELHI: Delhi gang-rape prime accused Ram Singh on Monday committed suicide by hanging himself in Tihar Jail.

The incident came to light around 5am. Ram Singh was found hanging inside jail number 3. He was rushed to the jail hospital but declared dead on arrival. The body was then sent for postmortem at Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) hospital.

Ram Singh hung himself using his clothes probably his own shirt, Tihar sources said.
Ram Singh was to be produced in Saket court today. The gang-rape accused were woken up by 5-5.30am everyday and taken to Saket court on their hearing date in a bus and were kept in a lockup there. The incident came to fore when the guard spotted him this morning.

He was apparently disturbed by the recent hanging of Afzal Guru, a source said. A metropolitan magistrate will inquire into the incident, the source added.

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Now Playing: Saheb biwi aur Gangster returns

musicaday- 256

Heard this awesome piece of music in a commercial for the first time and since then I haven’t been able to get it out of my head. Its refined yet raw, arranged yet wild. The only flaw I found with … Read More

Ihab’s movie thread- Movies you watched in March, 2013

1) Kai Po Che- I could sit through the movie because of the light feel it had and the decent performances. However, the story of this film in one word for me would be “pointless”. I actually was frustrated 30 … Read More

Scene of the week- Week 59- Andha Kanoon

Nothing great about this scene, just that as a child I used to find it hilarious whenever Hema Malini used to rewind the tape and Rajnikanth’s consequent reactions.

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85th Academy Awards- Winners

Best Film: Argo – Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, and George Clooney

Best Director
Ang Lee – Life of Pi

Best Actor

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Now Playing: Kai Po Che, Zila Ghaziyabad and more

This post is for the movies released past friday viz. Kai Po Che and Zila Ghaziyabad.

Please post all the reviews , views, Bollywood Gossip and Box office news in this thread.

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Scene of the Week- Week 58 – Bridesmaids

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Now Playing: Murder 3, S26 & ABCD

Murder 3 is in cinemas this week along with the releases from last week: S26 & ABCD

Please post all their news,reviews, your views, and box offices items related to them here.

I have updated the link and this should … Read More

Gangs of Social Media : Valentine’s Day Q-tiyapa

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Kehna hi kya !!

Just looking at how things have been at NG, I thought of creating this post.

About a few months back there was practically invisible activity on NG, with some days having just 4-5 comments. A little while later, some good … Read More

Akshay Kumar & Anupam Kher: S26 interview with Faridoon

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