Archive for the 'Film' Category
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008
hot! hot! hot!
with the temperatures and the humidity here at their worst, i’ve been spending what little free time i have mostly indoors and by myself. over the past week or so, this has led me to watch three vastly different, yet equally good, movies.
first, batman: gotham knight — not really a traditional movie, to be honest, but a single story told in series of six episodes done in an anime style. this story is meant to serve as the connection between the last batman movie and the next one. i’ve never really watched any, but this was quite enjoyable.
second, in bruges — a madcap story about two hitmen taking cover in, say it with me, bruges. 
there are guns, canals, castles, swans, psychological disorders, cocaine, and even a dwarf. a must see. the city of bruges itself — with its medieval, fairytale atmosphere — plays a big role in the story. i’d say bruges is now on the long list of places i’d like to go, but never will.
third, ensemble, c’est tout — with the bizarre english title hunting & gathering. 
it’s a nice little story about four lonely people — a postcard-selling aristocrat, his grungy chef flatmate, the chef’s grandmama, and a cleaning lady with a gift for sketching. the characters are great, and the acting is too. i’d rather fancy being philo — the aristocrat — but, as it is, i think i’m sort of in between him and the chef.
[yes, i know, this post is made of the most horrendous html evar]
Monday, May 26th, 2008
Waltz With Bashir
Have you guys heard of this animated documentary? It’s about the Israeli director’s memories of the 1982 war against Lebanon. I’ll admit I heard about it because it premiered at Cannes, but it seems interesting nevertheless. Unfortunately, I don’t know where, or how, to get my hands on it. Will I have to wait for it to actually be released!?
Saturday, May 3rd, 2008
i’m a cereal killer.
» It makes me sad that the JB seems to be losing steam. [Also, that I can't get my paragraphs to separate, no matter how many <br> tags I stuff in.]
» What do you fellows make of things in Pakistan these days? I’ve been out of touch, but I’ve heard about the dilly-dallying over restoring the judiciary. Although, I don’t know if that would really matters. Scandalous, considering I was briefly involved with the Student Action Committee, for whom the judiciary is a major concern.
» The job search is — or should be — go. Any tips?
» Here are the Arsenal Ladies.
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
Being Cyrus.
I watched Being Cyrus last night. It’s an Indian English-language drama released in 2006. it has a couple of big Bollywood names in it — Saif Ali Khan and Naseeruddin Shah — but it’s definitely not a Bollywood film (no wet saris here).
The action takes place in Mumbai and Panchgani with a cast of just seven lead characters, most of whom are Parsi and members of the Sethna family. Cyrus Mistry (Saif Ali Khan) — the lead and narrator — apparently just wanders into the family’s life, and it seemed like it would turn out to be a soppy ’self-discovery’ type of film. Fortunately, the story takes a couple of dark turns and turns out more interesting than I had thought it would.
Friday, April 11th, 2008
et cetera.
also, watch this, if you haven’t.
Monday, April 7th, 2008
oh, khuda ke liye!
Apparently this is in chaste urdu, and apparently, its doing rather well too in India.
Though, obviously, it can’t touch this:
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
How cool is this?
http://eye.kddi.com/index.html
Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
consumption vs creation
al-tahafut, you’re analysis of tourism as a consumer industry is spot on. i think visiting historical sites is particularly overrated unless you use it as an excuse to actually read up on some history. i think nature sight seeing is ok as long as its not marketed as ‘eco-tourism’, which is just a horrible, horrible word.
first of all, cities are just as fascinating if you are trying to understand the human condition. secondly, pursuing a better understanding of nature is fine, but you should acknowledge that you are satisfying your curiosity in a way which might be harmful to the planet rather than spinning it to give yourself a sense of moral righteousness.
anyways, i think our discussions of music, films and tourism go the heart of what it means to be a consumer in the modern world. for instance, do we watch films because it is a shared cultural reference point with our friends, because it simply gives us pleasure or because we gain a deeper understanding of the human condition and thus lead more satisfying lives?
while i was pondering these questions, i fortuitously came across this brilliant lecture by Larry Lessig. definitely must-watch.
Also check out this interesting write up on Prof Lessig. I think it would be great if he made it Congress/Supreme Court.
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008
hall of mirrors.
well, this is always an interesting thing to think about. personally, i think everyone is influenced by the work of those who came before. sometimes it’s a positive influence - one might think a certain style of music is intriguing and that further experiments in that direction are worthwhile - sometimes a negative one - one might think a certain style of photography is dull and that going further down that road isn’t worthwhile.
if we talk about recycling pieces of art - entire songs, films, books, etc. - then it’s possible for someone to create a replica without adding anything to it. i think the basic fact is that the value of the new piece depends on the creativity and the talent of the artist who finds some inspiration in the original, gives it a personal interpretation, and then recreates it.
i’d agree that there’s more value to be found in old things than in new, but then that’s mainly because there are so many more old things than new ones.
it’s funny how films and plays are different like that. i don’t really know why films usually run in cinemas for just a few months, but plays can run for decades. i mean, dilwale dulhania le jayenge ran [and may still be running, i don't know] for over a decade in mumbai, but that’s an anomaly. it would be an excellent thing if major cinemas did show classics alongside new releases, but i think the industrialisation of cinema [and music, and literature, and more] makes it difficult to see that happening on a large scale.
a word on the johnny cash video - i got into him around a year ago and went through most of his american recordings. tom petty played for cash on a couple of those albums, and, if i’m not mistaken, that’s petty doing backing vocals on the song. i think it’s a good example of someone taking another’s work and giving it something extra.
Monday, February 25th, 2008
the new or the old?
first things first, amanat ali is awesome. coming from someone who doesn’t really listen to hindi film songs, i really, really, like his performances.
on novelty, the bacon quote is very interesting albeit slightly extreme. Al, I’d be interested to know how much you think artists who are influenced by those who come before them add value to that work, if at all.
i have to be careful with my current line of thinking, which is more along the lines of the bacon quote, that we are more likely to find value by delving into the archives and listening/watching classic albums and movies. this is because you can pretty easily reach the conclusion that there’s no point producing new culture as its unlikely to be good as that which has already produced.
of course, i don’t think that that’s true and what i’m probably arguing for is changing the ratio of how we consume new and old information. for instance, i think it would be great if cineplexes showed classics on a couple of their endless number of screens, instead of the crummiest of the new releases.
funnily enough we see this in theatre, which i actually think goes too far the other way by having too much shakespeare. i used to be more strongly against this, but have tempered my position somewhat. shakespeare is obviously a source of great insight into the human condition and has more to say than most contemporary playwrights.
I’ll end by linking to one of my favourite songs right now. “I won’t back down” by Tom Petty, covered by Johnny Cash.