True Grit

I am fascinated by history. Ture Grit is a remake of a 1960s movie and I think also inspired by a novel. The story is simple - dude killed unfairly, his daughter is angry and wants to take some revenge; she hires an old marshall to find the killer in order to kill him.
The Wild Wild West was indeed wild. There was honour and animalistic behaviour. I liked the girl's performance and the Jeff was outstanding. Still don't know how he did a drunkard so well :)
The reason I had to write about this movie is that towards the end (because the end is simply cinematic awesomeness) I was peering into my laptop screen - took me a while to realise that I was literally drawn to the movie.
A particular scene right at the very end made me say, "Damn... no wonder this movie was named True Grit".

Ilhaam

Every thought is unique. Similar to how everyone who saw this play would have thought of different things.

There is a time when the world flows into you, when you can sense everything around you and understand all that there is; when that happens, things that used to matter, cease to matter in the same way. What would you do if you were to choose between moksha and bondage to human societal life?
/I can't be here and there at the same time... that is what humans want./
/Kya poori duniya aa kar tumse kehti hai... main hoon...?/

There is a joy in being a kid and there is regret in seeing that innocence in somebody else.
Someone weird is just someone who does not conform to accepted norms of human societal behaviour. Epilepsy was deemed madness, homosexuals are still not treated well, cross-dressers are not accepted, autistic people are scary, deformed faces are revolting. Odd people exist because of the categorization by other people who form the majority.

Moving to another point; what would you do if your loved one goes insane, i.e. you can't understand/ tolerate him/ her? What happens when that someone does not appreciate your presence?
What is the similarity between someone who treats you badly and someone who suffers from dementia or Alzheimer's? Are you liable to take care of a loved one more because of your love or because of society? What would you do if you realised you were losing control over your sanity?

Ilhaam is a play that I saw at Prithvi Theatre yesterday. One of the best I have seen in a while. A note to the buffoons who like to text and email while the play is on - one fine day, you might be shot or stabbed by someone like me.

Melt

Nick has a way of melting my innards. The saxophone, the flute, the bass, the guitar, the piano and his voice.

The Dark Knight Rises

Spoiler Alert - Stay Away from this post.

"I have buried enough members of the Wayne family." The agony on Bruce's face tears up the viewer. For me, this movie was not about the glorious action, but just like "The Dark Knight", it was about human behvaiour and emotions.
The first line above was said by Alfred while he is controlling his tears. Bruce could not move on after Rachel's demise and the ones who loved Bruce always hoped that he would leave things behind and move on. Alfred spoke of how he wished Bruce never came back to Gotham.
Christian Bale is one of the best young actors that Hollywood has.
Tom Hardy is a wonderful Bane and Bane is as good as he should be. Calculated and sturdy. 
Anne Hathaway is a wonderful, voluptuous, enticing Catwoman?
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a new kid on the block and does a fantastic Blake (Robin)
I was surprised at how gripping the movie was. Chicago is the perfect Gotham City; the action scenes are stupendous and the naysayers may say what they want to, but Hans Zimmer created outstanding music - especially towards the end and the music that usually accompanied Bane.
The plot was so-so but the idea was quite Shakespearen with the downfall of society.

How did the citizens feel when their city collapsed?
What did Alfred go through for 8 years after Rachel's loss and Bruce's degradation?
Why was Mr. Fox so loyal?
Did Commissioner Gordon really inspire Bruce so much?
What did people say when they found out about Harvey Dent's truth?
Why did Miranda do all she had to?
How did Bruce spend his years in pain?
What allowed him to escape the pit?

And the Batplane is fit for the 21st century!!! Wooohooooooo
Well done Christopher Nolan.
Side note: Anne Hathaway in stilettos (in the beginning of the movie) - oooooh laaaa laaaa

Kshay

Revolutionary Road meets Trainspotting in India. Not suggesting that the creators of this movie copied from any other movie - am just referring to how deeply thought-provoking, social, intense and terribly depressing this movie was.
An absolutely wonderful creation shot in black and white - good idea though because it focuses attention on the characters. I haven't heard such wonderful use of music in a while now and the story was simple yet filmed in a brilliant way. Even with the use of expressionism, the director didn't tire the audience as it happened in that god-awful movie: The Tree of Life.
Rasika Dugal was awesome and it was her movie through and through.

Thoughts:
Why was the sculptor kid such an angry boy?
Why was Chhaya obsessed with the stone?
Why did Laxmi always look at Chhaya?
Could losing a child during pregnancy be that disturbing?
Would Chhaya have been the same if she would not have cared for the neighbour's kid in the beginning of the movie?
Why was Arvind oblivious to everything?
Is India finally becoming like the West, where social support is difficult to find?
If life really is that difficult, why do people struggle through it?
Would a dead spouse be better than a dead self?

I went for this movie because a friend recommended it. I didn't know the meaning of Kshay until I came back home after the movie. The progression towards the end.
"Do you know what a woman goes through when her child has died and she will never know what it would be like to ever give birth to one of her own? Do you know what it's like when she is left all alone at home with nothing to do with her life?"

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro

This loosely translates to : Let it be, friends. Means: Ah fk.. just let it be...
I saw this movie today after ages! So happy that it is now easily available on DVD through Flipkart.
Albert Pinto ko gussa kyon aata hai (from N. Shah's earlier movie) referenced in a ridiculous scene and of course the end where Shah Jahan enters a Mahabharat play. "Say Sorry"
Aaaahhh... I'm laughing while typing this out :)
Satish Shah, Om Puri, the late Ravi Baswani, Naseeruddin Shah and Pankaj Kapoor dole out amazing performances.
Can't believe that this movie is almost 30 years old now. Timeless. Classic. Cult.
Sure, it's not a fantastic movie in the cinematic sense, but it's a movie that oozes of India; the India that was and still is.

Dosar

I love human relations. The movie kept things vague and kept one engrossed with the questions or comments: "What is she going to do/ say? How is he going to respond? Why is this woman suffering an abusive husband? Who was Mita? Yeah sure, now he wants her back... Who are these two? Yeah, the prostitute makes sense... I think."
Wonderful symbolism and art meshed with a good story. Don't know why he did a B/W film, but read somewhere that he did it just for kicks...
"Here's the pack of condoms; my wife won't need it. Your husband might." Ghosh seems to do a wonderful job with personalities and close-ups. Aaaah... Bengali movies...

The Avengers

I grin and rub my hands together with glee. "Doth thy mother know thou weareth her drapes?" Ha!!!!
The Avengers... OMG... This was such a fun fun movie. Gosh, loved it. Sure there were inconsistencies but oooh laaaa laaaa... love the fun!!!! Bruce Banner was cast brilliantly with Mark Ruffalo. Iron Man rocks and RDJ is perfect :). Scarlett J in red hair :D. Thor!!! Captain America was so so... I guess the Americans would like him more than the rest of the world. Oh but they made the movie so so cool!!! I am young again!!!!
Good usage of 2.5 hours. Quite a bit of work seems to have gone into production - believe the 3D was actually shot/ created really well for a change. The Hulk was awesome!!!!
Oh and yes, don't know why it released here before it did in the US.