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!

A double bill – after three years!

It was totally unexpected. But it happened. After, three years of hiatus, my double-bill movie watching trend has reemerged. I was supposed to watch one of these with a friend of mine that I had gone out on a couple of dates with. But he never sent me an SMS, which he was supposed to, confirming his availability.

So, I decided to go watch movie with a colleague. It wasn’t quite so easy. I was totally unprepared for the movies because she had said that she wouldn’t be able to make it yesterday. So, when she called, I was a little edgy, but I decided to do it. Because she wanted to see Madagascar 3 – Europe’s Most Wanted, we booked tickets for the same.

We saw Madagascar 3. It was nothing spectacular or funny except for the fantastic graphics in some of the circus scenes (that’s all you need to go watch the movies for) – I give it 2.5* out of 5.

During the interval, I asked my friend whether she would be interested in watching Prometheus, which happened to be the next show in the same screen. She said yes. After Madagascar 3 got over, we rushed back to the ticket counter and bought tickets for Prometheus.

Boy, was it worth it! Prometheus is visually spectacular and intellectually stimulating. Although it is nowhere as scary was Alien is, it is scary enough. The suspense is built up throughout the movie and although the ending was a little too fast paced for a Ridley Scott movie, I enjoyed it thoroughly. It’s a must watch. I give it 4* out of 5.

Work compromising life

I don’t think I’m workaholic. But I simply can’t leave my work unfinished and dissatisfied with what I had put in. This means that there are some days, which are getting uncomfortably frequent lately, when I have spent 11 to 12 hours at work.
Today, it almost cost me something. My friend Billiards felt insecure about coming to visit me because I have been too busy lately. That was really scary. But I was able to patch things up and things are back to normal.
This is the only issue that I have with work. Work is supposed to enhance your quality of life by paying you money to enjoy your life. It, therefore, shouldn’t deprive you of the pleasure by stealing away ‘personal’ time that can’t be replaced.
I have a lost a band, and quite possibly my musical career, because of work, and I don’t want to lose a relationship now.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Joe said it was fantastic. That made me doubt whether it was – we have never quite liked the same movies. But everyone who was someone was talking about it. It had to be a good movie. So I decided to watch it. There was just the one show in the whole of Mumbai and that was at 8.30 pm at INOX at Nariman Point.

Yesterday and most of today, I asked almost everyone who I could possibly invite if they were interested. Some where, but the distance was too much of an effort. Finally, on my way downtown in the train, my Indian friend, who has been very kind to me during my depression, said yes. I was almost relieved.

We reached just in time and it was really fun to meet him after a long time. He looked simply gorgeous and I so wanted to flirt with him. But the more important thing was the movie. Yes, the movie. It was simply marvelous.

People might complain about Hollywood stereotyping India. But I don’t take that bullshit. The bottom line is that the characters were wonderful, the acting was brilliant, the screenplay was engaging, the casting was near perfect, and the cinematography was excellent. I could relate to each and every character. I could also fall in love with a couple of characters/actors.

People, go watch this movie. You won’t regret it. I give it 4* out of 5.

After the movie, we went out for dinner – roti and dal at the newly refurbished Café Ideal. It was quite an experience!

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.

Crushes: Tommy Lee Jones

I need say nothing more than request you to watch the scene from MIB 2 where Agent Kay was being led into the MIB headquarters by Agent Jay. Agent Kay is wearing postman’s shorts and we get a shot of him walking from his back. *Slurp*

Why are older Americans so handsome?

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.

Getting better all the time

The last week has been really good me. Well, except for the fact that I got kicked out of my main band. Otherwise, with the help of the new medication (I suspect whether it could have such an early effect – maybe placebo effect) and early lessons of cognitive therapy, I am feeling all round better. I have a homework – to track my mood throughout the day and find out what triggers my negative moods. This is helping a lot. The people that trigger my bad moods are those who are close to me who have hurt me previously (e.g., parents, Vinokur, and Joe). I should avoid contacting them when I’m feeling vulnerable, I think.

A career nadir

Despite the good news about my meeting with the shrink, I have a sad news to break to. I have been laid off from my active band Overhung. It was rather unceremonious. The two band members who are in Mumbai called me up for a rehearsal. Instead of rehearsing, they let me know, in the best way they could, that they are looking for a new bass player.

I took it well. I have been expecting something like this for some time now. I wished them well (really, I do wish them well) and went back to work. This practically means that my active musical career is slowly coming to an end. Shor Bazaar is not active. Cirkles is barely so. My dream is slowly fading. I won’t have a record with my name on it.

(PS: Coincidentally, the Shor Bazaar’s song “Hello, Hello!”  video for the FedEx ad is now being played on VH1. Although I haven’t seen it myself, I have heard about it from a few friends of mine. Oh, well!)

The new shrink

I finally managed to come out of my depression closet and write something on my blog a few days back. Now, I took it another step forward. I met a new shrink.

The first sitting was rather remarkable. He must have asked me maybe eight or ten questions. I would just go on and about my past. The most that I talked about was my relationship with Vinokur and how it came to an end.

It felt telling a stranger about everything that affected me negatively from the past – from parental physical abuse, incestual sexual abuse, being looked down by my family almost throughout my childhood and adolescence, the hospital changing my perspective of life, why I came to Mumbai, to how I fell in and out of love and was broken into pieces – everything.

My shrink listened to me carefully. At the end of of our session, he offered me a comprehensive plan. New antidepressant (bupropion), slow tapering off of the cocktail, introduction to cognitive therapy, and regular physical exercise.

Although, I have been feeling much better in the last few days and I was even more content with myself that I finally took a measure toward getting out of the rut. Let’s see where this leads me.