"Bolt"ed Pug

Since long time I wanted to watch this movie called BOLT. Hmm... for my friends in stock markets, the word may remind them of "Bse OnLine Trading a.k.a. BOLT. But this bolt is the name of an animated movie of a dog who works in a movie industry; a la Hollywood! but is absolutely oblivious of it's existence. Since young age the dog is made to believe that it has super powers and that it can save the world from green eyed criminals! But an accident happens and the dog is delivered to NY city. From East coast to West coast the dog travels, realizing on it's way back home that he's not any kind of super dog!! But also realize that one does not need super powers to save one he loves!

One such Bolt I have seen is the Vodafone doggy "Pug". It used to follow the little kid (later the cute li'll girl) where ever it went. It also used to do menial work for the girl; bringing lost socks, licking stamps etc. Then came the most happening event in the world of sports... IPL!!! It was to become a phenomenon in Indian Telivision. TRPs shooted through the roof. Vodafone thought to capitalise on this opportunity and introduced ZooZoo.

Thus ZooZoo was born. ZooZoo is a semi alien semi-human character living in an earth-like place ( lot of which is left to the viewer's imagination).These are very very simple beings who are very expressive. They laugh aloud , cry loud and still have a child like simplicity around them.

Well, Zoo Zoos became most adorable cute little beings and people started fan-clubs  in facebook and other social networking sites. Vodefone then had a wicked thought (well, this I really dunno!! It's my guess!!) It decided to do away with little pug and welcomed zoozoo! What happened to the pug...

Well here's the pic a paparazzi managed to capture!!

Poor pug, since then has Bolted it self from the whole world to avoid shame...

Images: CreativeCraft, Flickr

When the cute child said... Booo

There are movies made to make you laugh, to make you cry, and there are some to scare the hell out of you! Yes, they are famously called Horror Movies. These flicks operate on some fundamental base; Fear. Fear is one factor that is hidden somewhere in our subconscious mind. Like when the camera takes a shot at the background of the character. The character turns and something jumps at her. In such a jumpy situation, your heart leaps out of the mouth! Well, how does this camera panning make the heart leap out? We fear many things, from creepy crawly bugs to dark corners of room. Some people have fear or can say phobia of being trapped alive in a coffin buried underground. While I have seen some people being afraid of Peas. Yes, those cute li'll green peas! Harmless for you but may scare the **** out of others. But what drives such fear/phobia? Fear is nothing but past impressions on our mind. Psychology reluctantly believes in re-birth. In the past life if a person has died due to poisoned peas, then the last sight in front of him would be the dreadful peas. The horrific impact stays in the mind for a long time. The impact is such that it has a lingering effect even in the after life! Same happens when we watch a movie. The impressions made by the horror flick lingers on for god-knows-what length of time. I have some impressions too. Some of the Hollywood booo-chandi(In tamil it means ghosts) flicks that have impressed me are Ju-On (Grudge), 1408, Event Horizon, Exorcist, Poltergiest, The Shining. These films work on certain principle of scaring viewers. The best way to scare out people is the silence. Generally a scary movie has a spine chilling background score. But the background score where no background score can be heard, has a spine "freezing" effect. The silence seems natural instead of the spooky music. And the viewers are scared to death when the sound is back. Another trick from their book is to loneliness. People hate loneliness, especially when they are afraid. It is like hitting in the sore wound. In the movie, 1408, Mike Enslin (jhon Cusack) is left alone in the room. No other characters. Yet it spooks out the viewers! Asians seem to have a fetish for hairs. That can be seen in The Grudge! Where as the westerners have used the faith in god as leverage to spook people. The exorcist is a classic example. The Poltergiest was a good example of the para-normal activites! Fear arises when you know the dreadful problem but no aparent solution is available. But there is a difference between Terror and Horror. Horror is the feeling of revulsion that usually occurs after something frightening is seen, heard, or otherwise experienced. It is the feeling one gets after coming to an awful realization or experiencing a deeply unpleasant occurrence. By contrast, terror is usually described as the feeling of dread and anticipation that precedes the horrifying experience. In other words, horror is more related to being shocked or scared (being horrified), while terror is more related to being anxious or fearful (being terrified). Now it is up to you to decide whether you want fearful impression or not!

Time Framed!!!

Tasveer 8X10. Nagesh Kukunoor directed, suspense thriller film is a movie I just risked watching. Akshay kumar a.k.a. Jai Puri, is a forest ranger with an ESP (extra sensory perception). His powers allow him to stare at a pic and then have the sight that the person in the photo had, just before his/her accident. Jai's father Jatin (Benjamin Gilani) dies in what seems to be an accident and a heart attack. On his death, Jatin's wife, Savitri (Sharmila Tagore) bequeaths all his wealth and estate. But all does not end here. Enter Happi (Javed Jaffery), "Happi with an I" as he calls himself challenges Jai into his theory that Jatin's death was not an accident. It was ill intended, well planned murder. Jai initially rubbishes this hypothesis, but his dreams of his fathers calling out for help, makes him suspicious. He uses his ESP on the pic taken by his mom, just before Jatin's death, to check out the truth. That pic has four people in it, who are also the suspects in the film. In the whole film he uses this power over 5 times. This movie, although a bit slow paced, holds the audience in good grip initially, the climax peaks up till intermission. It is a sign of a good suspense movie director that he lets the audience keep guessing who the culprit is. Kukunoor has made marvelous effort in directing this suspense thriller. The cinematographics and technical details of the movie is really appreciable. All the characters have a meaningful and integral role in the film. Nobody wasted. Javed Jaffery is exceptional with his whimsical role of a detective. Akshay's role is unlike his other films and has given his full effort. He has exhibited some of his parkour skills in the film. Sheila (Ayesha Takia) has a very "sweet" role of Jai's fiance. She definitely has a very important role and pulled it very well. Anil Sharma (Girish Karnad) as the lawyer, has a very limited reel time, but has a very meaningful part of a suspect. Other important characters are played by Anant Mahadevan andRushad Rana. Both have done it well. The music score by S. Suleiman keep the audience at the edge of their seat. While watching the movie, I was reminded of M. Night Shyamalan's stlye of direction. Looked very much similar. As the movie nears its end, the audience is clean bowled. The expression is like; "Now, whats that!!!!!" If you are able to catch the ending Kukunoor throws at you, Good. Else you will keep wondering what you are doing in the movie hall!

Review: Ratatouille

Aaah! This is one well made movie. Must congratulate Walt Disney - Pixar Studios for creating splendid animation! The details in the movie is par excellence. And please its not Rat - a - tuli, its is pronounced: Rat-a-tui

Its a movie on a rat named "Remmy". Well a rat with a bunch of unique taste buds. When most rats preffer stealing food that are considered unconsumable by humans, Remmy would go around shopping for exotic ingredients in and around the garbage can for his evening meal. And guess what, he also does not miss the Chef Gustaue's Episodes on cooking. Remmy strongly believes in Chef Gustaue's philosophy that "Anyone can Cook" The adventure starts right from the begining of the movie till the credit rolls at the end!

The movie holds you glued to your seat. Not an "Edge of the seat" Action movie, but still once you watch the movie for 15 min, you would not even think of getting up till the movie ends. There are chases thrown here and there and some stolen kisses, nevertheless, an ultimate adventure.

The crux of the movie is worth observing. This is one movie entertains kids and adults alike. Fun for kids and philosophy for adults. A lot to learn from this movie. What more shall I say? To read more review click here to go to bawa's opinion on this movie. 

O.A.K.

Kung Fu Panda

Truly Enlightening movie! A real entertainer!! It has got a simple yet superb story line and is successful in keeping the viewers enthralled till the end. Po's father expects Po to takeover the reigns of the noodles business after him. But Po has different dreams. He dreams of fighting hordes of enemies with Tigress, monkey, crane, viper and mantis; the "famous five of kung fu". Master Oogway predicts the release of the dreaded Tai Lung and mentions the dawn of Dragon warrior who will defeat tai lung. Master Sifu hosts a ceremony where the dragon warrior would be selected and spreads the news in town. Po reaches the mountain top where the ceremony is arranged. Po reaches late and he misses the chance of witnessing the selection. But Po skyrockets and lands up in the selection party. When he opens his eyes after the fall, he realises that master is pointing finget at him saying he is the dragon warrior. The question arises how could a fat flabby panda bear who knows the history and facts about the 5 warriors but knows nothing about kung fu can fight, Tai Lung? Well I am not going to narrate the whole movie, for sure. But what is really worth of mention is that the movie has surely got a philosophical base. The fact that nothing in this universe happens accidentally, Its all the plan of the divine, is emphasized thoroughly! Haaa.. And Master Oogway reminded me of guruji to certain extent. Po is a real entertainer and the critical element of the movie. There are no scenes in the movie which seem out of place. Intricately built story! I have watched this film 3 times in last 5 days before writing this post! You enjoy it too !!! O.A.K.