Oct 28, 2003
Oct 27, 2003
- 10/27/2003 11:13:00 PM
- 0 Comments
Men of Honor
Oct 26, 2003
- 10/26/2003 10:44:00 PM
- 0 Comments
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Oct 23, 2003
- 10/23/2003 09:32:00 AM
Brian Aldiss was one of the very few science fiction authors I had reading access to when I was a kid. He being British, his books were abound in the local British library in the city I lived. Artificial Intelligence in Steven Spielberg's take on an Aldiss short story by the name 'SuperToys Last All Summer Long'.
A.I is a cool story, I don't know how it did at the box office. There are always a number of failings to be pointed out when it is an SF movie. Science fiction traverses a realm where we haven't been yet, everyone's concept of the future differs, even though you and me are not Asimov or Bradbury or Clarke, everyone has an opinion of her/his own when it comes to the future. The success of an SF writer depends on how much his version of the future matches or atleast captures the interest of the majority of the population.
Artificial Intelligence as the title implies centers around robots, intelligent in the ways they are intended to be, by their makers ie human beings. The robots are called mecha (from mechanical?) and we, humans are called orga(organic) and now that everyone can think, scientists cross over to the forbidden territory of love. They make a mecha child who can love, and that is Haley Joel Osment. He has given a wonderful performance, as the eleven year old mecha boy, whose quest is to find the blue princess and make her grant his one wish, so that his (human) mother will love him. It is a fairytale, one set in the future, that makes it possible to have its own sets of trappings and rules, essentially different from the fairytales we have been hearing till now. Its has a good storyline, some lousy acting if you don't count Osment and Jude Law, who makes an appearance as Gigolo Joe, the lover Mecha, a fabulous futuristic landscape of Manhattan half flooded with sea (and you thought global warming was a joke, eh?) and a talking teddy bear, which is an aging super toy. If you like fairytales with a flair and a 'future', you might like this one. Oh, you like science fiction like in Star Wars?!??!! Then I am not quite sure.
A.I is a cool story, I don't know how it did at the box office. There are always a number of failings to be pointed out when it is an SF movie. Science fiction traverses a realm where we haven't been yet, everyone's concept of the future differs, even though you and me are not Asimov or Bradbury or Clarke, everyone has an opinion of her/his own when it comes to the future. The success of an SF writer depends on how much his version of the future matches or atleast captures the interest of the majority of the population.
Artificial Intelligence as the title implies centers around robots, intelligent in the ways they are intended to be, by their makers ie human beings. The robots are called mecha (from mechanical?) and we, humans are called orga(organic) and now that everyone can think, scientists cross over to the forbidden territory of love. They make a mecha child who can love, and that is Haley Joel Osment. He has given a wonderful performance, as the eleven year old mecha boy, whose quest is to find the blue princess and make her grant his one wish, so that his (human) mother will love him. It is a fairytale, one set in the future, that makes it possible to have its own sets of trappings and rules, essentially different from the fairytales we have been hearing till now. Its has a good storyline, some lousy acting if you don't count Osment and Jude Law, who makes an appearance as Gigolo Joe, the lover Mecha, a fabulous futuristic landscape of Manhattan half flooded with sea (and you thought global warming was a joke, eh?) and a talking teddy bear, which is an aging super toy. If you like fairytales with a flair and a 'future', you might like this one. Oh, you like science fiction like in Star Wars?!??!! Then I am not quite sure.
Oct 20, 2003
- 10/20/2003 11:09:00 AM
- 0 Comments
Mystic River
Everyone did great in this movie, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Marcia Gay Harden, Lawrence Fishburne and Laura Linney, but the its the first two, Penn and Robbins who have really done some stellar performing. Do I smell an Oscar here? The story is about three childhood buddies, their pasts connected by an abduction and their futures connected by a murder. As Eastwood's Dirty Harry says, "go ahead, make my day" what more can I say, make his day, its worth it!
- 10/20/2003 11:00:00 AM
- 0 Comments
Heist
I love those movies which involve plots and plans, especially the ones which has a plan as cute as a Chinese baby(what does that really mean? I don't know). Thats what the main character in Heist, played by the formidable Gene Hackeman calls his own brain child. The movie involves two robberies, carried out after elaborate planning and backup. The first one is to show the viewers how 'talented', coordianted and well prepared, the team of robbers led by the mastermind Gene Hackman are, they are no petty thieves, they only deal in diamonds worth millions of dollars of gold biscuits. I am not going to tell the story here as it'd kill the pleasure of watching it.
There are some real wise guy dialogues in the movie like "Well, don't you want to hear my last words?" "I just did" or "It's a good day for the race" "What race" "The human race.." etc etc. There are a lot more which I don't remember now. I think only film I have seen directed by David Mamet is Glengarry Glenross of which I don't have any recollections. Heist is written and directed by David Mamet, even though this movie hits the wall of credibility once in a while, its a watchable fare and has prompted me to out for more from the same director.
Oct 19, 2003
- 10/19/2003 09:55:00 PM
- 0 Comments
You Can Count On Me
Oct 16, 2003
- 10/16/2003 05:05:00 PM
- 0 Comments
Do you believe?
Oct 12, 2003
- 10/12/2003 06:52:00 PM
- 0 Comments
The Ring
Its kinda urban-legendsy which starts out with two teenage girls talking "well, did you hear about that video, after watching which, the viewers will die in 7 days..blah blah". The horror films which starts with teenagers make me wary, I mean, give them a break, they are the most easy scapegoats for the horror mongers, 9 out of 10 horror flicks involve a group of teenagers stranded in some desolate spot. Anyway this one didn't stretch the teenager material too far and quickly pushes Naomi Watts into the storyline, as our damsel in distress, but a courageous one at that. Ms Watts seems to have become the staple of supernatural and surrealistic films after Mulholland Drive. The Ring could be said as a well directed horror movie, with a glaring "made in Hollywood" sticker attached, which is worth a watch on times like Halloween when world is in dire need to conjure an atmosphere of ghosts(dressed in Walmart Halloween specials) and the horror weekend in your favorite TV channel is horrible beyond tolerance.
Oct 11, 2003
- 10/11/2003 01:32:00 PM
- 0 Comments
I have been decoded !!! Isn't that so easy?!!!
Take Free Big 5 Personality Test
Take Free Enneagram Personality Test
The Big Five Personality Test |
Extroverted | |||||||||||| | 48% |
Introverted | |||||||||||||| | 52% |
Friendly | |||||||||||||| | 52% |
Aggressive | |||||||||||| | 48% |
Orderly | |||||||||||||| | 58% |
Disorderly | |||||||||||| | 42% |
Relaxed | |||||||||||||| | 60% |
Emotional | |||||||||| | 40% |
Intellectual | |||||||||||||||| | 64% |
Practical | |||||||||| | 36% |
Conscious self | Overall self |
Oct 9, 2003
- 10/09/2003 04:07:00 PM
- 0 Comments
Hearts in Atlantis
Oct 8, 2003
- 10/08/2003 03:37:00 PM
- 0 Comments
The Life of David Gale
Kevin Spacey has done a good job, being the wrongly convicted Professor, who is also an activist campaigning against capital punishment, who ends up on the death row himself. Shot in Texas, which has more active death rows than anywhere else in US, this Alan Parker movie makes a strong state against capital punishment, although whether any of it will reach the ears of the law makers is doubtful. Kate Winslet plays the role of investigative journalist, whom Spacey has entrusted the duty of proving his innocence, if not to the whole world atleast to his own son when he grows up. Watching the movie one is stricken by the fact that how easily things can go wrong in life, one minute you are leading a cosy suburban existence and in the next you are on the death row, knowing for certain the hour of your death, but no one answers the question, "Why?"
Oct 7, 2003
- 10/07/2003 02:21:00 PM
- 0 Comments
The Enlish Man Who Went Up The Hill But Came Down a Mountain
Where in the world could being "English" be the ultimate insult? Where else, in Wales, ofcourse! "The English Man...." is the name of the movie, this could very well be the English movie with the longest title, for all that I know. The story takes place in Wales, the accent itself is so funny, its about half the humor in the film. Hugh Grant is one of the two surveyors sent by His Magesty the King of England, towards the end of WW1, to Wales to measure and map the area. They come across a hill in a Welsh village, which the villagers think could very well be the first mountain in Wales. The rest of the movie is about villagers efforts to make the hill a mountain and how they overcome this 'mountain-high' task. A nice and light movie.
Oct 6, 2003
- 10/06/2003 03:22:00 PM
- 0 Comments
The Shower
Its a subtle story, lightly told, with its own undercurrent of humor, never becomes suffocatingly sentimental and has almost an all male cast. Its interesting to see the culture, watch the bath house tales unfold - like two men and their fighting crickets, a singer with stage fright who won't shut his mouth once he's in the shower, the adorable younger son who is the soul of the place and is a naughty but likeable and helpful kid. Watch it if you have a taste for foreign movies and could let go Hollywood for a while.
Oct 2, 2003
- 10/02/2003 10:21:00 PM
- 0 Comments
The Nanny Diaries
Those of you have done your share of baby sitting will be able to associate with the Nanny easily, but that doesn't make the book a less compelling a read for those who haven't, like me. Its enjoyable and though at times I'd have wanted the Nanny to be more vocal about her needs, afterall this is a free country where slave labor is not tolerated, right? And the children, who are being taken care of, who are being bred right with the right amount French classes, ice skating and all the other related skills are shorn away from childhood before they begin it. Don't let me get started on Nanny's employer Mrs.X and I'll lose all my restraint, lesser said the better. Take a look at this book yourself, you won't regret it.