30 days of night
What a crap movie. I don't know if I ever shared the fact that I get a headache whenever I watch a really bad movie - that is how I can tell if the movie is bad or not. :-) Pretty rudimentary method for judging movies you would think - especially for a guy who thinks he is a film maker. Well the truth is that every person is an audience member first and foremost and everything else follows. Yeah that's deviating from the thought process but if you can try hard enough - then try and avoid
30 Days of Night - which is utter bull crap. It was made even more disappointing by the fact that David Slade's first movie Hard Candy was a really solid flick. Reasonable acting and beautiful cinematography combined with non-existent storyline or character development or even scares or coherence.
The other movie I watched was '
The Root of all Evil?'. It wasn't a movie per se - it was a 2 part documentary put together on 1 disc. It was a fascinating documentary mainly because it deals with religion and God - a topic which usually brings everyone into a heated debate. The first part of the documentary 'The God Delusion' was fantastic and the second part barely reaches those heights, even though it is good - the reason being it mainly explores Christianity and not the other major religions. It lead me down an interesting trip down memory lane about my own dealings with different religions and I am happy the way things have shaped out for me as far as my belief system goes. Now I am tempted to read 'The God Delusion' the book by the same author - Richard Dawkins.
Talking of reading - I finished '
Youth' by
J.M.Coetzee and it was a tearful and hard read because of what it is. I don't think I will go into the actual content itself but needless to say you will either know what he is talking about or you won't - there is no middle ground. He is turning out to be one of my favorite authors.
Till later,
Amit
Labels: Books, Movies, Random
Black Snake Moan
'
Black Snake Moan' is a movie that should have done better at the box office than most of the dumb trash they put out. It is a great movie about the power of healing and redemption through one human connection. Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci and Justin Timberlake turn in amazing performances and the music is fantastic along with everything else in the movie. Check it out if you get a chance.
SILENCEBeauty is in silence,Silence in pain.Pain is the freedomand the beauty that's everywhereAmit
Labels: Movies, Poems
Shantaram
I finished reading 'Shantaram' and it was a wonderful read for the rest of the time. The book is only about 950 odd pages but it feels like reading a 300 page novel. The writing pulls you into Mumbai and keeps you there throughout the entire length of the story. You can smell and breath India through that book.
The book is being made into a movie soon (or maybe later because of the WGA strike) with Johnny Depp in the lead role (he is also the producer and picked up the rights to the movie) with Mira Nair directing. I don't know how they are going to turn this epic story into a hollywood movie without loosing out a lot of the human element from the story - it will be interesting nonetheless.
I watched '
The Darjeeling Limited' yesterday night and it was a strange movie. I like Wes Anderson's movies however quirky they turn out to be but this one had something missing. It had some really funny moments in it but the movie was not complete in some way that I can't put my finger to.
I didn't get selected for 2008's Berlinale Talent Campus and was disappointed by the news but there is nothing one can do about it. The letter said that I had potential talent (whatever that is supposed to mean) and that I should apply again the following year. Hmmmmm......... I guess the upside of it is that I have potential talent at an international level.
After a flurry of emails between Katha publications, I have decided not to make 'Peace'. Without going into details all I can say is that I didn't want to make the short film anymore. A bit of a bugger but as the french say it
cest la vie.
What an year it has been - more good than bad has happened to me in 2007, so I am a happy chappy. Everyone always has some problems or the other but the key is to focus on what we have got rather than what we don't. I am hoping that 2008 will be a much more positive and fun year.
Till later,
Amit
Labels: Books, Movies
The Man from Earth
I did nothing today - well almost nothing. I spent the entire day reading 'Shantaram' and watched a movie called '
The Man from Earth'. The movie turned out to be a really pleasant surprise considering that the whole movie is set in a cabin room. There are some points where the acting and camera angle choices are dicey but still it was a fascinating movie to watch. It is a science fiction movie that doesn't have any aliens, any space ships, any SFX, any blood and gore or action and it is not set in some future point in time. If you can get past some dodgy acting from some of the players then you will thoroughly enjoy this movie without a doubt.
'Shantaram' is an intimate epic and I am only 1/3rd of the way through the book even though it seems like I have spent an eternity with the main characters. I will write my impressions when I finish the book - for now it is a brilliant read.
Back to the book.:-)
Amit
Labels: Books, Movies
Divisadero
A stranger's gaze is all it takes to throw chaos and uncertainty into your life. A gaze that you can sense penetrating your consciousness, even without looking up and when you do see the steady and unwavering eyes it creates a small ripple that magnifies in the moments that pass. What were they seeing? A freak? An anomaly? A person lost in time and thought? Or just eye candy? And what if you recognize that gaze as from someone equal to you - what would you be thinking when you look at a stranger walking unawares on the street?
I finished reading Divisadero and it was an interesting experience. It was fulfilling and frustrating at the same time. The writing style is different and the novel jumps back and forth in time and space but doesn't loose the narrative thread till about page 190 odd when it completely blind sides you by leaving the main characters and story behind without resolving or hinting at a resolution and starting off a new story with similar themes and ties them together with the rest of the book. It is an intersting experiment where the narrative is distilled to the absolute minimum and the book only works when you read the last 100 pages odd for a second time but on a first read it annoyed me to bits. I won't recommend this book if you can't bear the thought of unfinished stories within a novel but if you are looking for a good read then this definitely is worth a go.
The book that is a must read is
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and it is a real masterpiece that genuinely moves you and surprises you at every twist and turn. I read the whole book in one sitting - it is a page turner. The story is narrated by Christopher - a 15 year old autistic boy and it is a breath of fresh air and is a way of seeing the world in a whole new light. Do read it by hook or by crook - preferably by hook. :-)
Till later,
Amit
Labels: Books, Random
Illusions
Everything is an illusion; Everything disappearsA topic which often comes up for discussion with friends is relationships and dating in India and I have a good chuckle because of the big chasm that exists.
Here is an article which kind of gives a good overview of the dating scene in India.
I raided 3 different libraries [all of them falling under the same umbrella library] and managed to get just 1 book from the long list I had -
Divisadero. But at the same time I was equally excited to chance upon 2 books from my favorite writer -
William Dalrymple and I can't wait for this long reading session to start.
Amit
Labels: Books, Random
Mr. Pip and others
I finished reading
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones and it was a great read. It was innocent but involving; magical but real at the same time. Easy to see why it has garnered such critical acclaim and awards. I have now started reading
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts and it is a completely different experience. It is a big book, about 1000 pages or so and I am only 100 pages in but the world again is so real that one can almost smell the location of the story. I can't wait to continue on the journey.
And then I have my list of books that I want to read over the next few months -
- The Memory Keeper's Daughter
- A Thousand Splendid Suns
- Tree of Smoke
- Kafka on the Shore
- Divisadero
- Disgrace
- The Gathering
- Falling Man
- The Night Watch
- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
- The World without Us
- The Curious incident of the Dog in the night-time
Heeheee....That's the list for now. Let me see if I can find any of them in the local library.
Till later,
Amit
Labels: Books
PEACE
One of the randomest things happened and I broke a 3 year promise to myself - I was talking to Lance about future projects (even though I am taking time off projects) and he mentioned that he had about 12 minutes worth of 16mm film stock and 2 16mm cameras. That got me thinking and I was racking my head about the possibility of making a short film on 16mm film - a short film in this case being really short with a maximum time limit of 3 minutes as that would give us the flexibility to shoot with a ratio of 1:4 (which is insane - trust me on that one). I racked my brains about for a short film that would still be a good human story despite the massive restrictions we had. I asked a couple of people if they could write something but when things came to nothing I decided that I probably had to do something about it.
It dawned on me that some of the short stories written by Uday uncle are very cinematic, touching and at the same time very human. So I went about reading some really short short stories from the book '
Short Shorts, Long Shots' which I had co-translated with Bob
chachaji [Robert A Hueckstedt] when I was in India and I found 'Peace' - it is this wonderful short story that takes you by surprise. I promptly emailed both Uday uncle and Bob chachaji and both of them gave me a go-ahead to make the short film. I sat down and wrote the script - which is all of 2 pages long but has so much going on within those 2 pages - to the point where I think making this short will require a lot of attention to details to make it authentic and a long pre-production period. So yeah - I am happy that I broke my vow because I did it for something that is worth it. I am excited and have started assembling the jigsaw puzzle of a pre-production into it's normal state. This will be very very challenging but fun at the same time.
Peace out,
Amit
Labels: Books, Short film
Escape
I feel like escaping. What from and where to? I don't know. Sometimes it is not about knowing but about experiencing it.
Amit
Labels: Random
Razor
Festive SeasonIt is that time of the year here in NZ where everyone goes crazy doing Christmas shopping and closer to Christmas the entire country comes to a virtual standstill. The main streets are decorated with various stuff and it just kicks in the point that we need periods of extravagance like these to connect with people we care about. If only we could connect with people and be good to each other all the time.
I just watched
Battlestar Galactica: Razor - it was an interesting watch and adds a little more plot detail before the last season kicks off. The only thing that bugged me is that they did not add more threads to tie it up tighter to Season-4.
I had a day off work today and it has been a nice relaxing day. Played some tennis with Lance {he started teaching me how to play the game and this is the first time ever i put my hands on a tennis racket, so was nice to lose the set 6-5}; watched the BSG movie {refer to above paragraph}; lazed around and have now started reading
Mister Pip by Llyod Jones, which is turning out to be a fantastic read.
Maybe I should get some pending work done tomorrow. :-)
Till later,
Amit
Labels: Books, Festival, Tennis, TV Series
Reflections
I hear the laughter
but it doesn't speak to me.
I see the night fall,
it doesn't care for me.
I feel the sorrow
from pages in front of me.
the times of reflection
just seem to be
I hear the music
and it tears right through me.
I see the past
as it screams in front of me.
I feel the anguish
in a place hard to reach.
The time of reflection
just seems to be.
A hand over heart,
I feel the hope and pain.
A million wishes
some anguished and some fulfilled,
just still the same.
A time for reflection
just has to be.
Amit
Labels: Poems, Random
A good movie and a good book
It is amazing what watching a good movie and reading a good book can do to you. I feel really alive and connected as I did both recently.
The good movie being '
This is England' and the good book being '
Life of Pi'. The book is definitely more powerful than the movie because of the simple fact that you get to use your imagination while reading the book but not so incase of a movie.
Got 2 more books lined up to read, so should be a relaxing couple of days off work.
Till later,
Amit
Labels: Books, Movies
FIVE Reviews
I just realized that the reviews for FIVE are scattered across various posts, so decided to compile them all in one post for ease of information.
Also the movie has an imdb page located
HERETill later,
Amit
Labels: Five
One more...
Another review has come in for FIVE - this time from roguecinema.
That's all really,
Amit
Labels: Five
