"The first step in blogging is not writing them but reading them." - Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine, 07-10-2006

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Team get-together

Album: http://saptarshide.myphotoalbum.com/slideshow.php?set_albumName=album33





Sunday, June 10, 2007

Doing what?

I was looking at my blog and saw last few post were purely about movies. Does that means I am not doing anything except going to theaters? Well I looked back and answer came a big YES.

Weekdays are mostly busy at office and weekends are mostly taken by my laziness and sleep. Whats left of the weekends goes in cleaning the house and bring it back into order to be messed up again in the coming week. Only other thing is going for movies Saturday nights and writing about them on this blog.

Oh yes, now remember I did do something else. I finally finished reading The Three Evangelists by Fred Vargas, a novel I had got some two months back. Thats pathetic compared to my normal time taken for finishing a novel. In good old days a week was the maximum I would take for finishing a novel that too if it was really thick one. But now I happy at least I did something rather just wasting time in doing nothing. Since novel has come up, let me tell a bit about it also.

The Three Evangelists belongs to the crime/mystery/thriller genre. This is genre which I love the most, though this is first time I am venturing out of Sir Aurthur Connan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes), Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot & Miss Marple) or Satyajit Ray (Feluda). The Three Evangelists was bit different from the all these as it doesn't has a specific investigator. Its does a good job in holding the mystery in the plot till the end. One thing about it which really tested my patience was the fact that the plot moves too slowly and many events happen which cannot be related back to main plot till the end. If it would have been bit tighter and faster in pace, I would have bit more happy. Nevertheless its a beautiful novel to read and has left me wanting for more which is a good sign.

Reading has always being my habit ('bad' habit), but somewhere down the line I feel to have lost it. Hmm ... thats not good. I think I will go get a new novel. I am introducing a new label for my posts - books, starting today. You should see the count going up for it in days to come.

Ocean's Thirteen

Ocean's series is getting better with each increment. With Ocean's Thirteen they came back to Las Vegas, where it all started. I saw the movie today only and its very much lives up to my high expectations. With a star cast like George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Al Pacino; what can possibly go wrong?

This time Ocean (Clooney) and Rusty (Pitt) are robbing Bank (Pacino). And as usual they do it in style. Best thing like about the Ocean's series is the humor, its subtle but sharp. The actual plan is cleverly masked from the audience till the very end though the entire planning is shown in detail. And last but not the least the start cast, its the best lot, each one of the character is equally entertaining.

Honestly I don't need to fill good adjectives here to convince you to go for it. I knew it would be a must watch even before I had seen it and now I am confident. If you have missed Eleven and Twelve, don't worry you can still watch Thirteen and catch those two on DVDs sometime.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

This is the only part which I saw it in the theater out of the three. I watched the earlier two editions on DVD in preparation to going for this one. First edition (The Curse of the Black Pearl) really caught my attention. Johny Depp as Capt. Jack Sparrow is awesome with his unique style. I think he is USP of all the three parts, without him the movies will loose half their charm. Second edition (Dead Man's Chest) was bit of average where the director mostly continues with the narration and holds the story. Also this part sees bit less action from Johny Depp, maybe thats why I kind of felt it a bit boring.

Third edition (At World's End) is truly the best of all three. Its like a cherry on the cake. Special effects, locations, plot ... in fact in all ways its very good. Also, Capt. Jack Sparrow is back in his full action. The plot of the movie moves and changes so fast that you left guessing till the end whats going to happen at the world's end. I specially like the scene where they sail under the star studded sky while going for the rescuing Jack; and also the one with outside view of the Shipwreck Cove just before the Brethren Court convenes.

Its surely an entertainer and must watch for all action and adventure movie lovers. Since this one leaves Capt. Jack Sparrow alive for another voyage, maybe we can expect a fourth helping.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Cheeni Kum

Cheeni Kum. Latest Amitabh Bachchan release and I guess the first one with Tabu. Both Amitabh and Tabu are splendid in their work. Though its a cliche but thats the only thing good about the movie. Only entertaining pieces in the movie are the scenes between Amitabh and Tabu. Amitabh's mother, child actor 'Sexy' and even Paresh Rawal are more of burdens on the movie. For me the movie ended with interval. After interval the hunger strike by Paresh Rawal and movie getting dragged around it was simply diabetic.

I think its best to miss this movie unless you are big Amitabh or Tabu fan, because they are the only things to watch in the movie.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Bheja Fry

Its quite a while since I saw Bheja Fry. But didn't get the time to write about it. Movie for those who really love genuine comedy.

Though the movie is average in many aspects but you will have a nice laugh start to end. All the credit goes to Vinay Pathak (aka Bharat Bhushan), who single handedly makes the movie a worth watching. Rajat Kapoor gives him a good support but director could have done better with him. Others like Sarika, Milind Soman and Ranvir Shorey are simply extra baggage. None of them add much value to the movie.

On a whole its definitely a must watch. This is probably the first time the comic potential of Vinay Pathak has been utilized fully. You might not be expecting anything from the film and might come out highly satisfied. That is the best thing about the film.