Engayging Life: movies

Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts

Consuming and Creating

A day bookended by the gripping first quarter of Blindsight and the entertaining suspense/thriller narrative of Knock At The Cabin.

A day when I continued to reel from the after effects of watching Dave Matthews sing with extreme facial gesticulations.

A day mostly spent in creation of web designs wireframes, which left me wanting to learn more about web development.

A day that is now turning into another when I find myself curled up to watch the E04 S01 of The Last Of Us.

A day where I continued to think about the brilliance of E03 S01 of The Last Of Us, which was reinforced by some of the scenes in Knock At The Cabin.

PS: Does anyone else like Cabin In The Woods more than one would expect to?

Some of my most cherished moments in life are set in movie theaters while watching movies. Most of these times are when I go to watch movies on my own, but that could be because most of the time I go to movies without company.

In fact, I think that watching movies alone is the best way to watch good-to-great movies. By that, I mean that I have a lower threshold than most movie connoisseurs (or critics) for what I consider as high quality. Strangely, I have a high threshold for people who I consider as quality, and to be honest, an extremely small number of the people that I know have made the cut.

I am very often overcome with emotions--mostly positive--while watching non-blockbuster movies. For someone who struggles to find anything meaningfully moving in life, these are precious.

Today, I went to the movies with J to watch Ford vs. Ferrari. This was one of the few movies that we end up watching that we both badly wanted to watch. But we couldn't figure logistics out to watch when it initially released. In such cases, I'm the one who regularly checks listings for movies that pique my interest on my IMDB browsings.

Thanks to the locality that I live in, which features within walking distance three of the best movie theaters in Mumbai in terms of the variety and show options, we were able to get ourselves to the lone afternoon show.

I'm not too much into cars and automobiles. So I wasn't too chuffed to have finally managed to get myself to go watch it. Well at least until the movie started. Each time Ken Miles and Carroll Shelby overcame the odds and adversities, I cried. Must have been four or five times.

Source: https://i.redd.it/t3tktn59m2x31.jpg

The last time I cried in a non-movie setting was about 2 years ago when the ambulance with my father's corpse rolled out of my sister's apartment building complex and my sister and mother started wailing. I was strong and I was able to get a handle on my tears in a few seconds.

Side Notes:

While I was writing this post, I realized that there is a pattern to these. I started having such momements around the time my first official depression episode. It's almost as if my depression puts a cap on my emotions which is popped open only when I find myself in an immersive state of watching/reading well-enacted/well-written powerful stories with very little "trim-the-fat" requirements.
J wonders whether my lack of empathy and inaccessibility to regular emotions is because of antidepressant medications. Unlikely, because I'm on a mood stabilizer that does not seem to have such side effects.
I want to move out of fucking Mumbai. To the middle of nowhere. Where there are less people and there is less noise. And I think I'll be at least less unhappy in such a place. The only thing that I'll miss Bombay for is the movie-going luxury--that is if can't find this in where I would move to.
The movies that I have had such experiences that I immediately recall are:

12 Years a Slave
Article 15
A Star is Born
A Single Man
Babel
Bohemian Rhapsody
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Gully Boy
Imitation Game
Interstellar
La La Land
Little Miss Sunshine
Midnight in Paris
Milk
Munich
Rocket-man
Sideways
Silver Linings Playbook
The Aviator
The Departed
The Green Book
The Theory of EverythingThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Whiplash

Things that I've been doing

I have not been blogging too much lately. It's not because I don't have things to write about. Rather, I don't feel that what I write is not going to be interesting enough for reading. I guess this is very much part of the negative thought loops associated with depression. I have been reading a couple of books about depression that have opened my mind about this.

This post is about what I have been doing, apart from worrying/being depressed and working, in the past few months (from January 2014):

Watching

TV series

Sports/Entertainment

Cricket (all kinds)
Football (all of the World Cup 2014)
Tennis (Wimbledon/French Open)
Wrestling (WWE, TNA, and ROH)

Movies

Resident Evil 1, 2, 3 (2.5 out of the 5 movies)

Stargate (1994)
Transformers: The Age of Extinction
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (can't seem to finish it)

Reading

Finished

Currently Reading

Listening

Podcasts

Radio

Shows:

AT40 by Ryan Seacrest

Books

Ender's Game
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Learning

History

A History of the World Since 1300
A Brief History of Mankind (not finished)
Some others that I've not finished

Astronomy

Some that I've not finished

Music

Some that I've not finished

Doing

Music

Learning new techniques on the guitar on YouTube (PapaStache, GuitarBlogUpdate)
Learning some new techniques on the bass on YouTube (BassLessonsOnline, Jim Bennet, TalkingBass)
Working on/recording new ideas
Jamming/writing songs with a friend (in the first two months)
Traveling (to Jodhpur)
Going to Museums
Going out occasionally with the BF and friends

Brave

Yesterday, I saw Brave, the latest animated movie from Pixar. Mostly, it lived up to what Pixar promises. The opening short animation was incredibly beautiful. It’s call La Lune, if I remember correctly. Else, great animation, good story, and engaging characters – the usual Pixar stuff.
The only gripe I have is that the Scottish accent has been overdone in movies. It was so in this case too. Of course, it was set in Scotland. But haven’t we had enough of movies based in Scotland?
I give it a 3.5* out of 5. Go watch it!

Crushes: Ian Holm

So, as I mentioned earlier, I watched “Alien” last Sunday. The most attractive and sumptuous character was “Ash,” the android. Played by Ian Holm, it maintains the streak of the Androids in the Alien series of movies (including Prometheus) being the most attractive male specimen on display.

Here’s is more recent picture of Ian Holm from Wikipedia. As you can see, he’s as cute as ever!

The Alien Marathon

I woke up this morning feeling nice and happy and started going through the various threads on the forums that discuss the plot of Prometheus and the associated mythology. After going through a few pages, I realized that my knowledge on the original Alien and it’s sequels is limiting my understanding.

So, I decided to watch Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien Resurrection. Well, I could only watch the first three – that too, only half of the third. I’m already part scared and part excited about understanding more about Prometheus.

For those who haven’t watched Prometheus – please try and watch the Alien series of movies – at least Alien – before you watch Prometheus. That will give you a much better experience and understanding of the already brilliant movie!

The Cabin In The Woods

This was every bit crazy as it could get. A relatively unknown movie. A relatively unfamiliar genre. A relatively unfamiliar theatre. The only thing familiar was my dear friend giving me company.

I watched The Cabin In The Woods at Gem in Bandra. It just has some 30 odd seats. Tacky. No caramel popcorn. So a bit of a let down. But the movie wasn’t. You need to know a lot about the genre to understand how cool the movie is. It’s a smart horror movie. That’s all I am going to say. It’s another must watch. 4* out of 5 if you are horror movie fan. 3.5* out of 5 if you aren’t.

MIB 3

Finally, I did it. I manage to force myself out of my apartment for some entertainment. I think the behavioral cognitive therapy and the new medications are starting to kick in.

Anyway, I went all by myself for MIB 3 in 3D. I had already caught up with MIB and MIB 2 to ensure that I understand all the nuances. In my opinion, MIB 3 is the best of the three. Just because it connects the link between Agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) and Agent Jay (Will Smith).I would rate it as 3.5* out of 5.

MIB 1 and 2

My friend wants to watch MIB 3 with me and I wasn’t sure if I had watched MIB 1 and 2 or whether I remembered the plot etc. I decided to watch them. I must say, I like the concept and the premise. But the comedy is a little too much. The most annoying thing is that most aliens speak English with accents. That’s simply a big plot hole. And the action is a little too predictable. The only thing that remains great in these movies is Tommy Lee Jones and the neuralyzer. I hope MIB 3 is better.

Crushes: William Shatner

Starting today, I will bring you celebrities who I have a crush on. Don’t be surprised, most will be movie stars from Australia, US, or UK who are really old now. They would most probably have had three or four wives. But they are still red hot in my book.

William Shatner. Or the incredibly sexy James T. Kirk, the captain of USS Enterprise, from Star Trek. Swoon!

(Picture courtesy: Wikipedia, TopNews)

Double-movie date

I broke the shackles yet again. This time with a colleague, a newly acquired very good friend! I went out with her and watched Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Captain America back to back. We followed up with lunch at a restaurant that gave me fond memories of a wonderful dinner date that I had with Mike.

The most wonderful moment during the entire date was when my friend slept through the first half of Captain America (yes, it was rather boring for a Marvel movie) with her head on my shoulder! It felt really good!

About the movies – Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a very good movie – probably better than the Mark Wahlberg-starring Planet of the Apes (2001). It is a reboot of the franchise with a new story line. It’s a must watch for all classic sci-fi movie fanatics! 4 star!

Captain America is a must watch for Marvel lovers. But it’s actually disappointing. Especially, the unrealistic story and the plot (yes, even in comics, plots can be realistic). I would give it a 3 star rating.

Scre4m

This is one of those movies which don’t scare you at all. It keeps on amusing you with twists and turns, with blood and gore, with stereotypes and old characters in slightly twisted roles. Plus, if you are a fan of the Scary Movie franchise, this is a must-watch. The end is refreshing with a big twist in the plot. I would give this 3 stars because when you were thinking that they can’t come up with another sequel to Scream 3, they came up with one and it’s not that bad.

The Adjustment Bureau

I thought this might a bit like Inception. At least the previews seemed to suggest some sort of a sci-fi drama kinda feel to the movie. Well, it stayed good until the ending which got to be a little too much of mush. A good concept executed adequately but ending in a bit of a drab. I’ll give it 2.5 stars.

Once I start watching movies, there is nothing stopping me. So expect a lot of movie reviews from me. Next one up is Scre4m.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I watched this movie (only) about a month or so back. I had somehow forgotten to blog about it. I have no explanation for either of the preceding two statements.

Until I watched this movie, whenever I used to think about Jim Carrey, what came up in my mind is “The Mask” and the fact that I hated the movie. Stupid. That’s the word. I think I have also watched “23” sometime in the past. That revealed a darker shade of Jim Carrey. But still, the word remained the same—stupid. One word refer to an actor who portrayed such a fantastic character in Eternal Sunshine.

I had a very similar reaction to Kate Winslet and had slapped her (along with the fantastic Leonardo DiCaprio) as an eternal clichéd romantic, after having seen enough of footage from The Titanic without ever having watched the movie. That’s how commercial blockbusters can ruin the image of wonderfully talented actors. I have the habit of stereotyping—why, because my mind is not exactly spotless.

Anyway, I watched Eternal Sunshine, and I have one word to describe it. Whatay! Everything in this movie—the concept, the screenplay, the characters, and acting—is, unfortunately I have to use that word again, spotless! A technology to erase specific memories about people from your mind for a price? Priceless! How easy it would have been for us to deal with breakups and fall in love with the same person all over again without having any memories of past trauma!

This is sci-fi and drama combining at its best. Something close to Inception, I would say. I am rating it 4.5 stars! Bravo Jim and Kate! You have given me a new perspective to stereotype you with!

How 'ungay' am I?

One of my good friends asked me in an SMS early this morning - 'Are you still gay?' He was joking of course, or so I believe. However, in the present state of my mind, I think that question carries more significance and relevance than it seems to. How many 'gay' qualities do I possess -- more importantly, how many that I don't. Let's see.

I'm not into socializing. I don't go well with parties anymore. This is well documented in a recent post about a party that I went to after being invited by the same friend who asked me the abovementioned existential question. Gay people thrive on parties. They meet people, crack jokes, bitch about people, fish for dates, and get laid eventually. There goes a major point.

More about gay people socializing. They meet friends with their friends and hang out at cafés and go out for dinners and cheesy movies where they laugh and make comments at slap-stick comedy and melodrama. They shed tears when hollywood/bollywood divas succeed in their quests to find love (on screen, of course). They enjoy doing all this as part of groups. I don't.

Gay men enjoy musicals (like Mama Mia, the Sound of Music), movies based on high fashion (SATC). They hate action movies like the Expendables , sci-fi movies like Predators, and cartoon movies like Up. They watch drama on television as if their lives depended on it. They love classic (read gentle) pop music and dance to Bollywood tunes like their lives depended on it.

Gay people take care of themselves. They groom and keep themselves physically attractive all the time. They wear fashionable clothes in line with the latest in fashion. They visit the gym religiously and have the term 'six-pack' listed under abs and not beer.

This list could go on and on. I find myself as the most 'ungay' gay man amongst the people I know. This has resulted in me confining myself to my apartment weekend after weekend, making me unable to find anybody to be with or have sex with, thus making me lead quite miserable 'social' life.

You could say that my 'ungayness' isn't helping me at all.

Contact

This was one of the movie that I watched after having read the original book (Carl Sagan) in childhood. I loved the way Jodie Foster plays the role of the maniacal SETI scientist Eleanor Arroway. At the same time, I hated the highly religious overtones in the message that is conveyed in the end. I would say 3.5*.

By the way, during the early 2000s, I used to dedicate my computer to the usage of the data analysis by SETI. I'm wondering, can we still help SETI out that way?

Planet of the Apes

Finally, I managed to track down the classic sci-fi pentology: Planet of the Apes. I’m not going to bore you with details about each movie. I have assigned the following ratings for the movies: Planet of the Apes (5*), Beneath the Planet of the Apes (3*), Escape from the Planet of the Apes (4*), Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (3*), Battle for the Planet of the Apes (3.5*).

Here are the most important points about the movies which I thought would make the series a must-watch for all movie fanatics.

I don’t want a spoiler here—The first movie’s ending is dramatic and depressing!
Time dilation, a phenomenon of the theory of relativity, is put majestically to use in this movie series.
The religious/scientific views of the ape society mirror the views of conservative theists.
The ethical/moral treatment of humans by apes (and by humans to the apes in the sequels) is classic commentary on what’s wrong with scientific research.

Here are my negative points about the series.

The social structure of the apes as assigned by different colors of clothing is boring.
The incredible way in which the apes evolved to learn language but not improve posture is disturbing.

I’m not even starting to mention about the plotholes, but there are many. But watch this series if you are sci-fi fan. Watch at the least the first movie!

The Terminator Series

When I watched Terminator Salvation, I realized what I had missed by not watching the first three installments of this wonderful movie franchise. Many of my friends have insisted that The Terminator, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (T2) are movies that defined the genre of sci-fi movie-making. I, had somehow managed to evade these classics.

Not anymore! I watched the two James Cameron-directed classic Terminator of movies and Terminator: Rise of the Machines last week. And I must say, they are movies that I should have watched a long long time back. But there are a few points on which I differ from the usual public opinion about the Terminator franchise.

I'm giving The Terminator (T1) 4.5*, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (T2) 4*, and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (T3) 3*.

First of all, Terminator is the best movie of the lot. The action and the concept gets predictable as the franchise wears on.
Some people believe that alterations of the timeline and future by time travel-related complications in movies/television were first showcased in Terminator. That’s obviously not true. At the very least, X-men (in comics) and Planet of the Apes in movies have had it before Terminator. The one is X-men is so much more plausible and acceptable and without plot holes.
Terminator Salvation isn’t such a bad movie. Conceptually, it is better than T3 at the very least. The idea of a Cyberdyne reverse reverse-engineered (sic) android played by Sam Worthington is brilliant.

After watching the series, I have some puzzling timeline-related questions.

In Terminator, it is claimed that the time-traveling machine has been destroyed. How come Terminators are sent back in time for the second and third installments?
Also, in Terminator, it’s mentioned that nothing other than living tissue can be sent through the machine. The Terminators are far from just living tissue. In fact the model T-X is pure metal alloy? So how does that work?

This is why I still love my flawless time-travel storylines from X-men!

Inceptional!

Finally, I did it. After the gym yesterday, I made it across the road to the movie hall and watched it. Inception, that is! It was one helluva movie! I'd probably give it 4.25 stars out of 5. It was probably over-rated and over-hyped just a little bit -- but it still remains the movie of the year. It'll probably remain that way I guess.

As everyone else, now my mind is full of wild fantasies, and I'm searching for my totems. I have read many good articles and reviews about the movie, its interpretations, and its plotholes. One among them reigns over the other. You can read in in these links: Link 1 and Link 2. This link gives also an interesting view from the perspective of gamers.

Coming back to totems -- would your smartphone serve as one? If it can, you make calls across dreams? Maybe poke the character that's left behind in the last level of dreams from your present level? Also, would your wristwatches run slower (if they are used as a totem)? Haha! Interesting thoughts! I hope there is a sequel to Inception which bamboozles the shit out of everyone once more!

Sunday that turned on its head

When I saw Inception's trailer during my visit to the theaters to watch Knight and Day, I never realized what I was getting into. The hype was simply unbelievable. Everyone was talking about Inception on Twitter even a few days before its release -- I follow people from the media and movie industry; people like Rajeev Masand -- and some folks (lucky brats) had managed to catch it during its press preview etc. People were using all kinds of superlatives to describe the movie. I knew there was something crazy about this one.

Friday and Saturday passed by and I was stuck with my job and newfound responsibilities in life -- these include taking care of my insatiable appetite to sleep -- and I read more reviews. Almost all of them 5-star ones. RottenTomatoes.com gave it a friggin' 97% fresh rating. I was dying of anticipation.

Come Sunday, I woke up like a fuckin' pig at 1 pm, just in time to get ready to pick May up from the airport. She had come to give an exam to get into the Tata hospital. After a wonderful 'catching up' session with her where she told about how she was enjoying her post-marital life and was trying in vain to conceal how happy she was now that every piece in her life had fallen into place, I set out to Sterling -- the theater that used to be my 'adda' during my residency, which holds an uncanny mix of cheapness of old-fashioned single-screen theaters and the flexibility of multiplex schedules -- only to find out that Inception was sold out.

Disappointed, to say the least -- I had wanted to catch a minimum of two movies (out of four: Inception, Tere Bin Laden, Udaan, and Lamhaa) on Sunday -- I set across to meet Bablu, my favorite pirated bookseller at CST. I was insanely happy to hear from him that he had with him MY copy of 'Satanic Verses', which I have been hunting for a couple of years now, along with a good copies of 'Midnight's Children' and 'The Sea of Poppies'.

I spent a fortune on these three books. But I'm sure they are worth it. And I'm sure Inception will happen this week.

Engayging Life