Monday, April 30, 2012

The Trip (2010).

The Trip (2010): If you are a roadie or a foodie or a movie freak - you are going to like it. And if you are all of them than this is a KICK ASS movie. I am anyways a little biased towards british movies cause of their awesome accent and their attention to detail way of doing things. As per me, they are best when it comes to describing a situation, scene, place, beauty or for that matter anything. Totaly loved it.

It is mostly two friends, Steve and Rob on a road trip, Steve needs to write reviews on a series of Restaurants. His girlfriend plans the whole trip and she herself moves to US, hence he had to take his friend Rob along. It turns out to be a joy ride for us audience, as they just chill eating those mouth watering dishes throughout their way, visiting some gorgeous locations. Talking about everything under the sun. Mostly about their favorite movie actors and mimicking them.

They set off on their road trip from london on Steve's Range Rover. Stopping every night at a new place, checking out the menu and eating their best dishes one by one. The best thing I liked about the movie is their discussions. They just talk about everything. Like dialogue delivery of Michael Caine, Al Pacino, Robert DiNero, Dustin Hoffman, Sean Connery, Roger Moore and so on. The way they deliver their legendary dialogues again and again, competing with each other as who does best - is simply awesome.

The movies and the dialogues they deliver are mostly pretty famous stuff and you actually know what they are talking. In the background we see so many dishes being made for them. The preparation, the serving and then finally Steve and Rob eating them all. It made me hungry in the middle of the night and I actually had to pause the movie to get something to eat.

Those long country roads and they driving their Range Rover from one point to another is simply damn good. Beautiful locales captured so well. So many times you just feel you are simply looking at a still shot or a painting. Other than just eating and talking they visit so many places connected with history. Continuously both were in touch with their girl friend and wife respectively. Steve is shown even sleeping with two of the waitresses during his stay in two places. Rob keeps talking to his wife now and then as they have an infant too.

Their heart to heart talk is something pretty light and entertaining. They just never get serious at all. While visiting a graveyard - Steve tells Rob, what is he going to say in his speech on his funeral whenever he dies and to top it all even Rob gives him some pointers like what all he should add. During one of their brisk evening walks they go to one of the damn good locations near a water fall and Steve goes for a little tracking and climbs a huge lime stone - the shot in here is simply mind blowing to say the least.

On the last day of their trip, they even visit Steve's parents and he even speaks to his son on phone very briefly. Even the dreams that Steve sees every night are too funny. One night Ben Stiller comes in his dream as his agent and tells him that Coen Brothers, Wachowski Brothers and even Ridley Scott and Tony Scott wants to make movie with him :).

Its a damn good one time watch. Makes you laugh out loud so many times and you so much connect with them and their mimicry. Its a total fun watch.

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Hate Story (2012) - Hindi Movie.

Hate Story (2012): It should be called a perfect coming of age movie for Indian Cinema. We have come too far from those "two flowers touching each other" on screen to two naked bodies actually making out and censor board has finally grown adult and passed it. Kudos and full marks to them. When Angelina Jolie, Sharon Stone and almost every other babe of hollywood can go bare and do what we would dream to see on screen - why not an Indian movie and actress?? This movie is an answer to that - only if it was made a little intelligently. But wait, am I complaining?
 
Its a must watch for all thriller and erotic movie lovers. A damn good, one time watch with some real good masala thrown in. Paoli is sure hot and she knows what she is doing, definitely going places. Gulshan Deviaya has already impressed us in his last couple of movies, plays perfectly the role of a shrewd son of an industrialist - no one messes with him. Nikhil Dwivedi plays his real life in this one too, a loser who gets nothing rather becomes a laughing stock - you gotta see public reaction to know what I am talking about.

Vivek Agnihotri the director had surely learn the lesson with his two earlier disasters (chocolate and dhan dhana dhan goal) and leaves no stone unturned with this one to impress one and all. We should not get into the details and nitty gritties of the characters rather sit back and enjoy the revenge drama as it unfolds. When we leave our brains home - always for those mindless comedies. We can do that again for this one too.
Movie starts with a sting operation done by an investigative journalist - kavya played by paoli who exposes gulshan's company to the world. He takes a revenge on her by first impressing her then fucking and dumping her for revenge. His best line "no one fucks with me and I fuck everybody" something like that. She hits back as she is too smart to take it easily and takes her revenge by screwing him "brick by brick" as she claims it. She uses everybody for her revenge from his partners, cops, and evrybody else who can help her. Her boy friend nikhil does nothing but sleep walks, grows a bonzie plant and just smiles. The ending is a little tragic but don't worry guys she will come back for the sequel for sure ;).

Some important scenes which are like highlight of the move: There is this scene when paoli is fucking a guy and transferring data between two smart phones at the same time. I wonder what software did she use where you actually see data going from left to right from original and left to right on the oncoming phone. Wow. Unique I must say.

Then there is this guy who keeps all the critical data on his phone. So critical that his company can be screwed by simple data copying. Indeed a first in any movie.
What's with her crying? She is so god damn loud while crying and weird that you actually laugh when she cries that too twice.

Some one really needs to explain me the scam that they unearth in the last about cement company, importing of "plants" and power bills :O. Another unique from all standards.

Then there is this scene - during their "investigative journalism" Nikhil takes some close up snaps of a non existent factory - but you should see the camera and lense he is using - I'm sure it will make a professional photographer laugh so hard that they will fall of their seats.
There are so many never seen scenes in the movie, that you actually gasp and do not believe your eyes that you are actually seeing them. Check out the movie to know what I am talking about. Its actually very bold on their part to do that.

Do not miss it at any cost. I would say rather wait for the director's cut DVD as that would surely make an interesting watch with all the dozen choppings back made by our censors ;). Its a good one time watch.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

North Country (2005)

North Country (2005): I totally love the "based on true story" movies. As usually they are made with heart more than head. Same is the case with this one. Based on the real life accounts of women mine workers from a small town of minnesota. This is one fantastic effort of putting the plight of working women in an iron mine in late 80's.
One hell of a movie with a star cast that you just cannot ignore. Imagine beautiful Charlize Theron supported by Woody Harrelson, Sean Bean in his restrained best with a fundoo wife whose name I keep missing (Frances Mcdormand). Richard Jenkins who plays Charlize's dad is an amazing actor too. Have seen him in so many good movies with best being (the Visitor). Its totally a must watch for all as you have so much to learn and take back home.

The aerial camera captures the beauty of Minnesota so damn well that you just gasp. The first shot when she packs up all her stuff in her truck and goes off to her parents place. The drive is so scenic that it makes you think - why is there so much pain in such a beautiful world. The mine blasting sequences, gigantic trucks driven by females and those killer huge cranes / JCB machines are a sight to behold. Scene where the women arrive in mine in their regular clothes and change into their mining uniform followed by end of the shift when you again see them dancing in the bar - are just awesome.

Movie starts with Charlize leaving her abusive husband. Her truck loaded with stuff and two kids on board, she drives to her parents place - a sleepy town in minnesota. Meets her old buddies and gets into a mining factory as that's the only job available there and they started hiring females recently. As expected women to men ratio is very low - the year still being mid to late 80's and no special benefits thrown in for women. They go through the same routine like the male counterparts plus the music and abuse they had to faces from the men. There was no sexual abuse law in place hence they couldn't even complain. What they go throw cause of that is something which moves you inside out. I'm sure the reality would be way too brutal than what we see in the movie. Charlize tries to fight back her respect after being abused in life earlier and that's all the movie talks about.

Its a mind-blowing drama and such an emotional ride. Movie starts with a courtroom drama and the flashes of her earlier life are shown. This is one court case which is going to change it all. You see the whole town in the courtroom. She fights everybody from her school time buddies, co-workers and bosses for her self respect and women's rights. Her journey through the tough times is very enlightening and emotional. The way she breaks up, have differences with her teenage son, friends walk out on her too, no one to support, no job. Its so much happening at the same time. Kudos to the director for capturing exact emotions and to the whole team to live the real drama. Even the support cast works so well that you have a connect with them.

Everything is so good about this one and a special mention is required for its damn good background score. You have some real good country music thrown in - which goes so well with the mood of the movie. Totally loved those songs. OST is a definite download once you are done with the movie.

A damn good movie for those low times when you feel everything is lost - it will cheer you up and motivate you big time. Not to be missed specially if you like this genre and even otherwise.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Safe House (2012)

Another run of the mill CIA agent gone rogue drama cum action which fails to make any different impression than the other ones with the same subject. There was a time I would have called myself a big big fan of Denzel Washington but I think it was about 5-8 years back. In last as many years he has done so many same movies with no head and tail that his movies have stopped impressing me. Not one movie comes to my mind from last as many years that I would love to see again with him in lead of course other than "the bone collector".

This one too starts with a typical "world around him is on fire" pace and goes flat around half the time and then you simply keep on watching the predictable stuff and feel like you wrote the whole thing yourself and they just shot it for you. At best its an average one time watch with nothing that you take home.

The very starting of the movie is super action when they locate this guy meeting a MI6 agent in cape town. There is a team of thugs waiting to shoot him right outside the cafe as he has got some chip that everyone wants to have. The way he walks out of the cafe and dodges his followers is typical Denzy stuff. That confident face and brisk walk. He is actually not running and clears off the goons in no time. Car chase, accident and shootings does makes you happy. The best is when they take him to the first safe house and start torturing him with a towel tied to his face with dripping water. The moment they take that towel off him - he quickly asks "how long was that - I mean time" and we realize he is a hard nut to crack.

Agency activity is again same old story. Have seen those typical CIA meetings and briefings in so many movies that I can tell in the very first five minutes - who amongst them is a bad guy and whose good. Whose going to die and whose going to live. Its that predictable and simple. Resume reading is to impress the audience. Ryan reynolds is there to just support the big guy in keeping him safe till the help arrives from USA. From one house to another its a tail of their survival. There are two teams of CIA behind them - one wants to extract them safely and another wants to remove them after taking over the chip. Question is what's there in the chip??

Take this for the starters. Ryan is a CIA operative and has a girl friend too. Once he vanishes from the house he is supposed to secure he instructs her to come over - she even comes to meet him and doesn't have one clue as what he does for a living. On top of that when he confesses that he is an agent - she cries and beats him up and walks out on him. C'mon man. Even a woman is not impressed by her boy friend whose a CIA agent? I found it funny. Rather they shud have kept it light and funny. It would have been good.

Second, once they go out of the first house and are running for their life. Ryan enters some sort of a cyber cafe and operates the pc to check some data from his head office. I mean is it that simple? As if bloody CIA gives their agents a login and password to their drives which can be accessed from any tom dick and harry cyber cafe? Simply superb. Even the ending is so predictable and cliche to say the least. I will definitely call it another bloody blunder of choice from denzel.

One of my favorite and a beautiful vera farmiga is wasted in a thankless role. Brendan gleeson - less said the better. At best as I said its an average one time watch. May be wait till its dvd is out or catch it soon on HBO.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Exam (2009) - thriller

Exam (2009): If you love one room drama or thrillers - probably you will end up liking this. The last I saw something similar was "Carnage" and it had us in splits - never had that much fun watching a one room drama with four adults fighting over kiddie issues. But this one with bloody almost ten adults that too from various walks of life, regions and even nationalities fail to impress me. At best I will call it a movie once seen and forgotten types. It starts pretty well and picks up the pace too but loses steam somewhere in between and the way it ends - you just want to move on to the next movie and forget about this one.

Now, imagine the world is ending and this was the last job that you could apply to save yourself from being sucked into the end of the world. How badly would you try for that job?? That's how it opens up when you see people getting ready for an exam of a life time. They already have cuts and bruises. Some even have blood marks on their bodies probably from some earlier rounds which we aren't shown or explained. Eight adults - four men and four women from different regions and nationalities have got selected for this exam. They have 90 minutes to solve the question and each individual is give a white paper sheet with a pencil.

They are locked in a room with a security guard - he even has a gun hanging on one side. If this isn't enough the rules are way too good. They can't talk to the invigilator or to the security guard - if they do, they will be disqualified. If they destroy their answer sheets even mistakenly they will be disqualified. Even if they write something wrong they will be disqualified. They cannot go out of the room. There is no question even on the paper. Their exam is to find the question and then reply. Only one question is there and there will be only one answer :).

Time starts and they start thinking. Suddenly they realize that they can't talk to the examiner and guard but they can talk in between themselves to solve the query. This sets the tone for us to know the characters better. One of them is a shrewd white, a good looking blond, an Indian gambler, a brunette, a French guy, a black probably American, one cute psychiatrist and another lady who exits too early to know her character :). Each one of them has his own theory. The first lady starts writing something and gets evicted. French guy blabbers something and that shrewd brit tears his sheet and tells him to eat it hence he gets evicted too. They try to turn off the lights, turn on various lights, try to wash the paper to see the imprints. Again the over smart dude burns one of the females paper and she too gets evicted.

When nothing works they start doubting each other that one of them may be an employee of the company and already knows the trick. The indian even starts interrogating them as well and That's when they come to know that one of them is indeed a part of the company. Its a pharma company and that there is a virus spread in the planet due to which everybody is going to die provided the infected people take a pill every hour. They have a guy in between them who is an infect and he does takes the pill every hour. The black guys wife died with the same virus.

The turn of things, their guess work and differences go so bad that at one point of time you feel they are all going to kill each other and the survivor will get the job but no - it isn't that easy. For the most part it works well but when it comes to ending - it isn't that convincing. May be the director should have thought something more creative or shall I say shocking. At least I wasn't too happy with it. Hence I just liked it and not loved it.

At best it can be an average one time watch. You will definitely have a tough time recommending it to anyone.  You never know - you may love it ;).

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

One Crazy Ride: Motorcyle Documentary

One Crazy Ride: After watching his movie "Riding Solo to the Top of the World" - his journey on his bike to Laddakh and Beyond - I had to see this. Very highly recommended by every biker and a must watch for those who are born roadies :).
His journey to another terrain which is impossible to do on four wheels - let alone attempting it on two :) and how they do it - is simply mind blowing and amazing. You will be hooked to the 100 minutes of amazing footage shot by the members only by their hand held camera with almost no background score.
A team of 4 guys and one girl - Amazing is the ride. Gaurav Jani is the man.

Before watching these movies I used to feel I have travelled the lenght and breadth of India on my four wheels and took it as an achievement but after seeing his rides I feel have done nothing as most of my journeys were on four wheels that too on six lane highways or four lane highways or maximum on single roads but what these guys have done is a journey on "No Road" terrain that too on two wheels with almost no equipment or support of any kind.

Just imagine four guys and a girl take on the most impossible of the route to travel to the eastern most part of India - Arunachal Pradesh witout entering Assam. They started their journey bike 5 Royal Enfield Bikes from Guwahati. For these guys "Impossible is nothing" - when you see their motorcyle diaries - you will understand that.

The director and main lead is Gaurav Jani who is a film maker and has already assisted Ram Gopal Verma on couple of his movies, others are his friends working with different companies but are passionate riders, they leave their families, jobs and responsibilities behind to the journey of their life time. They are all regular people like you and me - just one thing they have got extra than us I guess is the "Passion" and that "fire to do something extraordinary".

How they finish the whole journey and shoot the video too is amazing. One of them shoots the video while the others go on the ride and then they get together again to go forward. It isnt easy to ride the bikes laden with almost 200+ KGS of load mostly containing the equipment, clothes, food items, bike spares etc. When you see their over loaded bikes - its scary just to imagine how will they be ridden and totally amazing to see them ride the same for those long distances - road or no road they just keep going forward with "never say die" attitude. Some of the scenes are scariest as unbelievable and some are a laugh riot - specially the scene where they are supposed to use a toilet which doesnt even have a commode and there is a live Pig right below to eat the shit - I was actually in splits watching it and had tears in my eyes to see what they shot.

Its a beautifully shot film and cinematography by a regular camera is simply outstanding and superb. Shots above the clouds, Super Morning Sun, Rains, Terrain, land slides, Broken Bridges, Crossing Rivers, Dirt Tracks - almost everything is so amazing. Seeing them shiver in 5 degrees temperature with no accomodation. Passing nights in their tents and makeshift accomodations. Bikes getting punctured, broken and repaired. One of their members bike develops some mechanical fault which cannot be repaired by them hence he takes off and goes back from half the way as his bike cannot be repaired but guess what - he joins them back again slightly later.
Unfortunately due to time and responsibility constraints they couldnt finish the ride on time and everybody else goes back but not Gaurav Jani :) - he could not leave it without finishing hence the guy goes on and finishes it. The journey that he does alone is totally rocking and shocking to say the least - he crosses the bridges, rivers, terrain and no mans land alone to reach the end of his journey beyond that you can enter China :). its truly amazing to see him finish the ride on his own and amazingly he shoots the whole ride on his camera single handedly. Kuds to the hard work he puts in to make it an equally amazing experience for us too. The people and tribes he meets on his way and the way they interact with him is simply mindblowing for us. He shares their traditions and beliefs - gains so much knowledge about them that it amazes me - these things do exist - we would otherwise never come to know of these places and their traditions. Plus this ride breaks those myths too about people saying "Dont go there, its not safe" - if he can do this alone I am sure others can do this too. It happens so many times that we think of doing something and right when we talk to others - our thoughts are shot down by those words that "No one has done that before, no one goes that way, so you shouldnt too". He did exactly opposite of that and does it in style.

He does the first ride alone after his friends go back and guess what???? they do it again after two years - same route same team :). its a must watch for all who believe in "Impossible is Nothing".Do not miss this at any cost.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Teen Kanya (1961) - Bengali Movie.

Teen Kanya (1961): Another classic from Satyajit Ray based on short stories of Rabindranath Tagore. Its a collection of three short stories based on life of three girls. Watching a black and white movie in today's time is an experience on its own and when they are made by Ray - you don't need any other reason to see and praise them big time. Every time I pick up one of his movies - I end up falling in love with them and my respect for the man keeps growing with every story.
Its a must watch for all classic movie lovers. The first one is no less than a thriller and remaining two are heart warming stories which make you smile. Not to be missed at any cost. Bengali isn't too tuff to understand anyways and all his movies nowadays are subtitles encoded.

Monihara (the lost jewels): Based on the life of a greedy woman Manimalika and her husband. They live in kolkata but since his wife can't bear a child and due to family pressure they move to his ancestral house in village. Her husband is very loving and takes good care of her. She has a dark past which is never revealed. She even puts a suspicious looking guy to work in her husbands factory stating that he is her distant cousin. Everything is going good till due to sudden turn of things they incur big loss in business and almost go bankrupt. Very reluctantly She offers her jewelry to her husband so he can cover his losses but he doesn't accept it and offers to go to town to get some financial help. When he returns - to his shock his wife has already absconded with her cousin and she takes her whole jewelry too with her.

He even gets a damn good necklace with him as a gift for her. He keeps waiting for her but she never comes back. In the last scene of the story it is shown that her ghost returns on a full moon night and picks up the necklace that he brought her. All this story is actually being read by a guy sitting on river shore to a suspicious looking lady in black who claims that the story is full of error. As the guy reading it asks her how she knows the flaws - she reveals she is "manimalika". The last scene was quite scary to say the least. I wasn't expecting the shock.

The Postmaster: The second story is about a little girl Ratan around 10 years old who works for the local postmaster of a remote village. The old postmaster is transferred and the new one joins in his place. She takes care of his household needs and daily life. Realizing that she is an orphan with no family the New postmaster who was a nice guy, starts teaching her as well. They both get very fond of each other till one day the guy falls sick and suddenly decides to move back to town. Poor Ratan's happiness was short lived and in the last scene of the story its heart touching to see that Ratan moves on with her upcoming life. And a new postmaster joins in and the old one goes away.

Samapti (the conclusion): Based on the life of Amulya who comes to his village on vacation to his waiting mother who wants him to get married as soon as possible. He wants to pursue Law and had no plans of getting into married life yet he is forced to meet the girls and finalize one for his marriage. He meets a free spirited Minoo and falls for her - the whole village calls her crazy as she keeps a pet squirrel and plays whole day with kids. After a big argument his mother finally gives up and settles their marriage. Right after marriage minoo starts throwing tantrums and goes off to her carefree life much to the shock of her husband and mother in law.

In one scene even after being locked in a room - she runs away in the dead of the night and is shown playing and finally sleeping in a swing on riverside. Amulya gives up on her and moves back to town leaving her behind. With time she realizes her mistake and as he comes back to her after couple of months - she apologizes to him and they go back to their normal life.

These are all simple out of real life stories yet told in such simplistic and riveting manner that it does amazes you. Satyajit Ray's work oozes of quality. Very small small things in the movie make you smile and cherish. And they live in your memory for quite a long time. I'm totally hooked to his movies now. Going to see them all.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Chronicle (2012).

Chronicle (2012): Another damn good american science fiction with college going kids getting super powers and using it just for fun gone wrong. It starts on a very low note and gradually picks up and delivers a mind blowing spectacle in the end. You don't take anything home but it definitely entertains you. Hardly 80 minutes of running time keeps it short and sweet.

There isn't much that you haven't seen in past yet its a great one time watch. I now totally agree with that spiderman's punch line "with great power comes great responsibility" after seeing this. How and what they do and then how do they end up is a good lesson.
Andrew is a high school going kid with almost no life. His life is rather fucked up with an abusive dad who actually beats him up, mother suffering from cancer and bed ridden, neighbors and other school mates bully him all the time, almost no friends. One fine day he picks up a cam and starts videotaping his own life. People again make fun of it and his camera gets tossed up so many times. Movie is actually shot in a first person account with a handheld camera - mostly andrews only.

His cousin matt takes him to a party so they can have some beer and andrew can mix up with people and make some friends. But unfortunately andrew gets thrown out of the party and another classmate steve approaches him as he had seen something strange in woods and wants to videotape it. As andrew was idle he agrees and they check out a little opening in the ground, get in with steve and matt to explore it further. They see some strange crystals inside, it was making weird noise - they do touch it and go blank. Woken up next day they go back again to the same spot and see that the area was covered and blocked for public viewing. Later they realize and see some strange change in themselves. They actually got some kind of power from the crystal that they can pick up small pebbles and move them :).

As the days go by they realize their powers were increasing and they actually start shuffling and juggling things. They can actually move cars and bigger things to. They keep doing that for fun sake and andrew keeps videotaping the same. Till one day matt realizes they can actually float and fly too :) just like superman. Andrew starts floating his camera and starts flying too. This point onwards movie is total fun and a visual delight till everything goes wrong as during one of their flying sessions steve gets hit by lightening and dies. They decide not to tell anyone of their powers and never to use them again. Till andrew does it as his life gets more screwed cause of his father and he needs money for his mothers medication and that's where it all goes wrong and what happens next is predictable but mindblowing climax.

There are so many damn good sequences in between which were like great fun. When they realize they can float - its awesome to see them float and fly with the camera. Another shot when they are flying and a air plane crosses them inches close :). Blowing the skirts of girls with a blower from a distance. Moving cars in parking and seeing the owners reaction. A magic show they do in school where andrew becomes famous and his life changes for a very short time. One of the damn good sequence is when they play football in air - its simply ravishing seeing them play football and floating camera shoots them.

The ending half hour is spell binding and edge of the seat action as matt and steve fight. Cars are thrown. Buildings are blown. Choppers shooting. Cops following - everything around them is simply awesome action. But how it all ends is convincing yet you feel sorry for the kids.
Its actually a lesson that you can get extra ordinary powers but using and handling them isn't easy. It can be dangerous too.

Its a nice one time watch for visual extravaganza and a great lesson in the end.

Today's Special (2009)

Today's Special (2009): Another run of the mill comedy cum drama based on experiences of a sous chef. He works with a big new york based restaurant but isn't very happy with his job. He wants to learn french cooking but destiny had some other plans for him as his dad falls sick and he has to take care of his indian restaurant. How he overcomes it is what the movie is all about.

Its a damn nice one time watch for amazing chemistry of naseeruddin shah with asif mandvi the chef. Its a must for all foodies specially. I was actually very hungry by the time it ended.

Asif Mandvi works in an upmarket new york restaurant and he is damn good at his job but cause of his frustrating boss he quits his job and plans to move to paris to do internship with a french chef and learn french cooking. As he breaks this news to his parents - his father gets a heart attack.

His life changes upside down and his plans go for a toss as he has to support his family and take care of his dads sinking indian restaurant which was really in a bad shape. He meets a taxi driver - Naseeruddin Shah on his way home, who happens to be a damn good cook back home in India some decades back. As the need of hour was a good cook - he ends up hiring him for his restaurant as he had hardly any knowledge of Indian dishes.

Their interaction is the high point and the best part of the movie. It becomes a life changing experience for him and it does changes his life for good. The preparation, dishes that they make, firing of old team, upgrading the restaurant, hiring of new team, new menu and finally the success. Its such a nice pace that you actually remain hooked for the most part. Although its predictable but never boring. Quite a nice one time watch.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) - Korean Movie.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) - Korean Movie: First of the series and I must say its equally good like the other one "Sympathy for lady vengeance". A simple story of a deaf and mute guy and his sister told in a heart touching manner. Most of the movie is a visual treat with almost no dialogues and it isn't even required as the sequences tell you so much about the story that you need not someone to say anything.

I am totally in love with this guys movies and hooked to them big time. What a damn good story teller he is. A must watch for all drama / serious movie lovers. Its an experience that you must have.
Its a story of a deaf and mute guy and his sister and their struggle for daily life in not so long ago Korea. She wants him to be an artist and works to fulfill their dream but fate had something else in store for them as she falls seriously sick. Brother starts working in a iron factory double shifts to make the ends meet. How he goes thru his work and shifts is heart wrenching to see. Still its tough for them to survive on the income and on top of that she needs a kidney transplant at the earliest which is way too expensive.

He loses his job in the meantime. Tries to sell his own kidney to make some money and is duped. He loses his own and gets no money. The only good thing in his life is his girl friend who suggests and makes a plan to kidnap his X boss's friends daughter. They are quite rich so they won't have problem paying the ransom. The plan goes well and they successfully kidnap the girl and even extract the money too but as he returns home he realizes that his sister comes to know of the kidnapping and commits suicide. He goes to bury her body and takes the kidnapped girl along as she too becomes quite friendly with him. While he buries his sister the girl falls in the canal and dies too as he couldn't hear a noise being deaf.

There is a scene where the kidnapped girl comes in her fathers dream rather he feels as if she has returned. He hugs her and she asks him "daddy why didn't you teach me swimming early?". It had me smiling with tears in my eyes. It had that innocence about it even her dad smiles and regrets his mistake. This movie reminded me big time of "Life is Beautiful".

Finally, they are traced by the girls father and they too trace the gang who duped them for kidney. And the revenge both the parties take from their enemies is earth shattering and gross to say the least. But because of the reason behind you actually do not feel bad for the victims.

You see a lot of cutting, chopping, stabbing, blood spurting out scenes in the movie. A cute love story too between the couple. His girl friend is really beautiful and smart too. The final showdown of the two guys is totally awesome. The way they go around looking for each other for revenge, wait for each other and the final moment - mind blowing stuff. It isn't made for the faint hearted.

Its a must watch for all thriller lovers. You must have seen a lot of similar movies but this isn't run of the mill stuff but unique. I totally loved and will recommend the others from the series too like "Old boy" and "Revenge for lady vengeance".

Shame (2011).

Shame (2011): As the poster says it was indeed the most "provocative and compelling film of the year". No doubt on that. Not at all for the faint hearted types cause of the nudity and its gross nature. Its on your face - reality as it should be. As real as it could get and kudos to director and michael fassbender for living that character on screen. You actually feel for him but just can't help. The best thing I like about movie is that it does not preach or give an opinion about anything. Even its ending opens a debate.

Its a must watch for those who like to watch movies which make you think hard. But do mind the content :).

Movie revolves around its main character Brandon who is quite a successful man living and working in new york. He is a big time sex addict. His home and office pc are totally packed with porn stuff. He is actually shown jerking off even in office. He isn't those wham bang - thank you mam types either but a very passionate man who likes everything very slow and perfect. Barring his sexual addiction he is quite a lovable character otherwise who likes listening to music, going out with his colleagues and friends, does not endorse the idea of marriage and is quite content and happy with his life.

His life changes when his troubled sister joins him for couple of days without giving him notice. She is a singer and is shown singing a posh restaurant too. He isn't in good terms with her and loses his freedom too once she comes over. No background is given to audience of their past or childhood. Problem starts when his already married boss meets her and they even make out on his bed in his presence. She even finds out and knows of his sex addiction and wants to help him out of it too. Brandon tries going out on a date with his colleague but it doesn't work. One day he even takes his colleague out to a hotel but he couldn't have sex with her and finally does it with a sex worker in the same room.

He even tries to get out of his addiction by throwing all of his stuff - even his laptop in trash but just cudnt come over it. Finally he gives up and goes for it big time. In last scene which is the most lethal of all he is shown having oral with a guy and a threesome with two females. He finally gets up and realizes about his fight and fall back with his sister but by the time he reaches home its too late and she had already cut off her wrists like she tried couple of times earlier. He ends up saving her and right when we think its all over - looks like it doesn't. Even the ending opens up a debate when he is shown seeing a married female on train and his eyes follow her movements.

Its a classic one time watch which gives you a true insight on a sex addicts life. See it to believe it.

Friday, April 20, 2012

The Darkest Hour (2012).

Another run of the mill action cum science fiction which could have been so good but still quite an entertainer. A new type of aliens strike but this time for a change in Russia :). They eat up all the power and are here to collect minerals from earths core. In case you come in contact with them - you will be turned into dust And there is no escape as they almost kill every one in Moscow.

The good part of the movie is its almost an unknown caste and hence you have no expectations from anyone. But the dude who plays lead almost looks like the younger leonardo dicaprio and even copies his facial expressions, hair and body language. Girls are just about average and I specially liked that russian chick - she was good.

They even made some good looking aliens a totally new concept. Quite impressive. And those devices they make half the way to kill em are good too. What a way to use the microwave waves. Hiding behind the glasses, underwater, shooting them with bazooka's and all is quite good. At one moment you actually start liking but again its a predictable fare.

Its a nice one time watch as its hardy 100 minutes with some good graphics and visual effects. Can definitely be seen once and forgotten.
Check it out if you like science fictions.

Riding solo to the top of the world (2006)

Riding solo to the top of the world (2006): A guy and his bike a royal enfield named "Loner" on a ride to the top of the world Leh Laddakh and beyond it. Do I need say more about this? That one line is more than enough a reason for anybody who is passionate about riding a bike. One of the most cherished and dreamed location of world by anyone loving riding or driving. A big big hug and thanks to my friend Nishant Jha who himself is a big roadie and has done the same ride on his royal enfield (the mighty one) Cause of him I got this.

I myself have been dreaming, planning, looking forward to go there for last couple of years. Couple of my very close friends have been there multiple times. And the experiences that they have shared are simply outstanding, mind blowing, breathless to say the least.
Gaurav Jani started this journey alone on his bike with a load of around 300 kgs from mumbai to leh laddakh to chumru (the last riding point) and back. Unbelievable stuff!! An outstanding journey of 50 days. He was the one man crew who shot the video, voice over and even the still photography. And what you see onscreen is simply outstanding and heart warming stuff. Pause the movie anywhere and it works like a perfect screensaver. At times you feel - you are actually seeing a screensaver with only a biker moving in the image and rest of it all is just a still frame.

Just imagine how he captured himself onscreen with no help whatsoever from anyone? He will find a location first, fit the camera on a tripod, set the film rolling, get in the frame with all the load on his bike, complete the shot, come back again and pick up the camera :). Can you believe that?? I could not - till saw it in real. He did that throughout his journey and its something that I fail to put it in words here. Its like seeing your own dream fulfilled but by somebody else.

He meets so many people, travels to breathtaking locations, crosses all the hurdles nature can throw on a man's way. Yet! He reaches the top of the world and its simply outstanding the way it all ends. In the end he actually realizes that he has explored a new himself in the journey and his life will never be same again.
Amazing is his journey and the people he meets on the way. Their life styles. The way he becomes friendly with them and adjusts according to the life. Experiences it for a short while before moving to another location. Every step is a new learning for him and an experience of a life time for us too.

I am sure you would have seen so many similar stories on National Geographic but this is an out of this world experience as they were all well equipped teams with extra ordinary preparations but what you see here is simply one mans fight and achievement.

Its a must must watch for all.
Even if you don't ride or drive - you will love it for the feel and life changing experience it gives you.
Do not miss it at any cost.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

The Grey (2012).

I simply love those movies which are based on a "Man's will to survive" and this one was exactly that. What a fantastic movie and what mind blowing performance by one of my favorite actors Liam Neeson. A must watch for all thriller lovers.

I seriously wonder he hasn't got an Oscar yet. Even after so many mind blowing performances and after having such a great resume in hollywood. He is a wonderful actor to watch. I'm sure all his characters are written by keeping his personality in mind. As he always speaks so little yet expresses a lot more. One hell of an amazing guy he is. I was happy to learn that Michael Bay who made transformers told his team to take inspiration from Liam Neeson for Optimus Prime's body language :). Now that's an achievement and when I think back of the movie it amazes me more.

Liam Neeson works with a oil drilling company in Alaska. And on his last day of job he writes a note to his wife who had left him long ago that he is committing suicide but I guess destiny had some other plans for this guy. As he is awaken by a wolf attacking his team and he shoots the wolf and joins his team for a flight back home.

He is shown reading that note again while on flight and as his co passenger starts irritating him - he keeps the note on his front seat pocket and sleeps. He is awaken by wild turbulence of the air craft and what we see next is a mind blowing plane crash in the centre of nowhere. Shockingly only 7 people survive the crash including Neeson. They start looking for food, guns and whatever they can to survive till the help arrives or they reach somewhere safe. While searching he finds his gun which is broken and the note too which he wrote to his wife.

Here onwards its a tale of their survival and fight for life. You get to see them fight everybody including wolves, grizzly bears, wild dogs, killing chilling weather, scary nights windy days. Its a mind blowingly shot movie. I always wonder even after watching so many movies - how do they get to find so damn good locations. Never seen before stuff yet so engrossing and giving chills down my spine by just looking at them.
Its an amazing story of a mans will power. I was so touched to see their efforts. The ending too is heart wrenching. Throughout the time you keep guessing and every moment you see death approaching them.

Its a must watch for action thriller lovers and trust me - you will not forget it for quite some time.
Do not miss it at any cost.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Housefull 2 (2012) - Hindi Movie

My movie freak daughter comes to me and declares that we have to see housefull as a friend of her saw it already and she told her that its a great movie with a snake biting john abraham's hand and another crocodile biting ritesh's bum :).

On top of that it happens to be a tuesday :). Vodafone gives you a ticket on every ticket booked FREE FREE FREE. So we the gang of 10 saw the movie at cost of 5 - isn't that a good enough reason to watch this one :).

As usual its a mindless comedy yet again from Sajid Khan and Co. He has actually got the pulse of public and he actually knows what they want. A total time pass stuff with every one running helter skelter. So many characters thrown in that before even start thinking of one focus shifts on another one and you forget the first one. Four guys with four girl friends with four dads. More confusion, couple of songs in between, lost and found on an island. Some jokes. Some flash backs. Old friends. Sworn enemies. Some hot chicks. Friends again. An item number. Everybody married. End of the story.

All you get is - two hours of laughing out loud kids. Repeating some marathi gujarati sindhi and some aaye aaye from akshay kumar. Hope they do not remember those swear words for long :).

Watch it if you like mindless comedies. It starts from nowhere and goes nowhere. But it will surely make you laugh. You may notice a lot of flaws but who cares once the whole concept is flawed. Like the one point which bothered me a couple of times was - they are in london but whenever rishi or randheer kapoor dream - they dream in $$$$ :). I guess sajid cudnt find the pound sign or thought crown may not get the joke anyways. LOL. Mithunda shooting 10 bullets out of a double barrel gun :D.

Straw Dogs (2011)

What a fantastic thriller this turned out to be. Sometimes you end up loving a movie just because you have no expectations from its cast and crew and it turns out to surprise you big time. This was one of those movies - I had no clue whatsoever of the director or his team and it was indeed a damn good watch. Thanks to my friends who recommended this one.

Its a simple story yet told in a kickass way - Husband and wife move to a small town in Missisippi. David is a hollywood writer and is working on couple of things - he needs peace to concentrate so they shift to his wife's fathers farmhouse. Hire a couple of locals to fix the roof of old house. One of the guy turns out to be his wife's X flame :). These guys start bullying them around over petty things - its a must watch how they take it on them and never get agitated till the wife confronts her husband and tells him to take a stand. He in place tries to befriend them by going on hunting with them, they take him for a ride and dodge him, wife gets raped by her own x boy friend rather she gets raped twice as his friend sees him raping her and takes the opportunity of jumping in - that particular scene was so cold that it got me thinking big time - how sadistic one can be.

If not for the his attitude and the onscreen villainy - you would surely be in love with the guy who plays negative - I was actually in double minds and wished he wasnt that bad. He is totally cool.

Now the thing you need to watch out is the climax - the whole 45 minutes is earther shattering action - I was hooked to it and was almost on the endge of my seat watching it. Lethal - Fundoo - Kickass - still you love it totally as they deserve what he does to them.

A damn good action thriller which you will not be able to forget for quite a while.
Do not miss this at any cost.
It is indeed a great watch.

Comparison with its Original of same name release in 1971 with Dustin Hoffman in lead: I mean c'mon - comparison is inevitable when it comes to remake - but if you believe me, I gave the older one a good 4/5 and this one is indeed atleast a great 3/5. The couple of things I didnt like is the main lead - that guy never looks vulnerable and his wife is not half as beautiful as was Dustin Hoffmans.
Rest almost its same movie with a fresh treatment.
But nevertheless - its damn good at that.

Straw Dogs (1971)

I have always been a Dustin Hoffman fan, somehow missed his some earlier ventures including this one. Since its remake released last week - I thought of seeing the original first and see how the current one does.

Now after watching this one - I have no hopes from its remake - I am sure it wont even be half as good as this one is.

This is one of the best psychological thriller I have seen in quite some time. The start is such slow and lazy but beautiful that you just cant help but fall in love with the characters of Dustin and his wife. While they move to their farm house and a contract is given for its repairs and upgrade. The guys who they have hired start taking them for a ride. They kill their cat and hang her in their wardrode, David (Dustin) tries to be friendly with them. His wife gets raped by one of them, Now that rape scene was shot in such a way thats hard to explain - even when the movie was released it was debated bigtime was called Pekinpah's debasement of women - All I can say is that it isnt for the faint hearted - if you know what I mean. And then the revenge that David takes from this guy - is just unbelievable. The last one hour of the movie - you will be sitting on the edge of your chair and will cheer david in reality to do what he is doing. Although the kind of character he has underplayed - you never believe the going on - but its ultimate and quite satisfying.

It is actually old school action / thriller that you will remember for quite some time.
I am now looking forward to the remake to see how good it is.
A must must watch for all Thriller / Action lovers - I am sure you have not seen something like this earlier.
DO NOT MISS IT!!

Blood Money (2012) - Hindi Movie

What a disaster. One of my favorite actors of the newer generation Kunal Khemu wasted so royally by the makers. Just by changing his names spelling they thought it is going to work with freaking no script and story to tell why O why - they make these disasters. Guys like the director of this one should stick to idiot box and they will seriously earn big buck but MOVIES???

And I'm big time seriously angry with those dick heads (pardon my french) who had the guts of comparing this good for nothing movie with the likes of "blood diamond" and "the firm". Did you guys even see those movies dude??? Its an outright insult to those movies.

Imagine this: an apna mumbai dude goes to cape town to make it big, sings a love song with his gorgeous wife at 5 best spots of the city as cinematographers job too is to be justified. Soon to be followed by three sad songs thrown in the back ground. C'mon they hired a music director too - you see??

A damn good love making scene shot in blue with VJ Mia and Kunal as she was paid too and Kunals well chiseled body how can they ignore as that wud have made for a good poster.

Now kill me for this one: this dude goes for the most important deal of his life :) in a 7 seater air craft which I assume is a chartered flight. Goes to some location to angola in jeeps with loaded air craft shooters, guns and mortars (again they wud look damn thrilling in posters). He goes to meet a terrorist who has set up an office on some river side and guess what?? Villagers are actually shown extracting diamonds from river by those sieves (chhanni) and he kills one for hiding a diamond on his body - if this wasn't enuff our guy buys a diamond from him and in lieu gives him 6 AK47s, a million dollar cash and a box full of bullets. And guess what he didn't even know that he brought all that from cape town :). One more thing - on his way back he was shown waiting in the airport for his "handbag" to arrive on a conveyor belt.

I wish I could kidnap the whole staff of vishesh films and bhatts, lock them up in a theater to watch this and ask them in the end - how was it??
A royal ignore is expected from all.
I sat thru this for kunal and his beautiful wife as he is anyways jobless.
You don't do that for no reason :).

Jalsaghar (The Music Room 1958) - Bengali Movie

Fourth movie of satyajit ray depicting the life and times of a Landlord for whom music and passion was above his family and business.

Story of the Landlord from riches to rags. Attention to detail is something which amazed me in this movie yet again. Made in mid 50's. Awesome is the word when you see the maharaja in his full style with his music room bustling with so many followers and activities at his cost. He is totally in it even when the floods are destroying his lands. Loses everything cause of his careless attitude. He even loses his wife and only son in a boat accident which finally shoots him down. Still he can't standby people overlooking him as a loser.

The final moments of his life are heart wrenching to say the least. The way he loses everything - self included. Its painful to see him wasting his life and coming to this unfortunate end.

Kudos to satyajit ray to depict it in such a lively way.
Total amazing work.
You even have a live performance by the great Begum Akhtar and a full bloom kathak performance in the end.
Its a must watch for all classic movie lovers.
Totally engrossing and an eye opener of sorts.

Baishe Srabon (2011) - Bengali Movie

I have seen quite a few movies of Prasenjit in last couple of months and I must tell you - what a fab actor he is. I wonder why he never came to bollywood. I'm totally bowled over the movies he has done and this one isn't an exception - Superb.

A damn good psychological thriller. I bet you will not be able to predict the story line and the ending is god damn stunning. Just when I started thinking that this is going to be another run of the mill drama cum thriller - it shocks you.

Parambrat the good cop is handling a case of serial murders in city where the killer leaves poems near the dead body. Parambrat is the same guy who played the helping cop in "kahaani". His boss is another damn good cop - if you remember the guy who helps rani in "no one killed jessica". Since they are not able to solve the mystery they need help from another eccentric cop played by Prasenjit. Whose reputation is very bad and is already suspended cause of his bad behavior.

How these guys solve the mysterious murderers case is outstanding. They are helped a little by parambrats girl friend played by gorgeous raima sen. I bet you wudnt have seen her in this kindda role ever - she is fuming hot in this one.

They indeed solve the case but the murderer commits suicide exactly as they realize he should. And they couldn't stop him on time. But the question remains why did he kill all those people and was he the real killer or some one framed him?? Right where you think its ending it isn't. You gotta watch it to know the real mystery.

A must must watch for all thriller lovers.
This will make you happy for sure.
Its a little slow in treatment and have a parallel plot of parambrat and his girl friend too but its a fresh breeze :).
Two nice songs too are thrown in between.
You will not regret :).
Go ahead - take a look.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Death Note: Live Action Movie (2006)

Imagine what would you do - if you get a notebook where you write anyone's name with their image in mind and they die immediately of a heart attack? Or you write a specific note like how where and when somebody should die and it comes true?  Our protagonist in this movie gets this notebook out of nowhere and he starts killing all the convicted, non convicted or criminals who are being tried in the court of law. He starts killing people left right and centre from all across the globe in quest of making the planet more safer starting from japan where he himself is based with his dad a super cop and his family.

He is a regular college going kid with a very sharp mind. He himself wants to become a detective.  Parallely there is this super detective too named "L" who nobody has seen but widely respected. He talks to cops via his laptop and solves the cases in blink of an eye. He is behind this dude too and pretty sure of solving the mystery as our hero too is hell bent on killing L as soon as he can.

The cat and mouse game between these two fantastic guys is simply superb. With some hot chicks in leather pants and short skirts thrown in between ;). Some real good chase scenes make it more thrilling. And how can I forget to mention the reaper who comes with the notebook and is only visible to the dude who uses the notebook. He is a winged funny looking devil kindda character who just floats and flies all the time. He eats only apples :).

Its a fantastic detective cum thriller with so much going on at the same time. One of the best things about this movie is its subtitles :). I mean imagine subtitles appear anywhere, sometimes on bottom of screen, sometimes on top of middle of screen or anywhere but that surprisingly doesn't hamper the view rather feels more convenient. And whenever that reaper speaks they appear highlighted and in blue color :).
Its a damn good thriller.

Not to be missed specially those who love detective movies.
You will love to see the guy who plays "L".
Do not miss this.
I'm eagerly waiting to get the second part to see how it all ends.

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005)

One of the best revenge movies I ever saw. Its a part of korean revenge trilogy incluing "old boy" (zinda in hindi) and "sympathy for Mr vengeance".

What an amazing movie.
It was beyond my imagination and expectations. Even after watching Old Boy unfortunately I could not predict what was in store for me in this one hence end up being surprised and loving it even more than I would have otherwise.

Its based on the life of a lady who was wrongly convicted of a kidnap and murder of an infant. She serves 13 years in prison for a crime she never committed. While in prison she plots the whole revenge - one step at a time. Helps all her inmates with their problems in prison and later uses them in her revenge. The way she traces the real kidnapper / killer and takes a revenge is simply outstanding. She even traces her own daughter and catches up with her too who is now adopted by an australian family.

The way she approaches the killer, confronts him, finds out about the affected families, meets with all of them and even gives them a fair oPportunity to take the revenge for their kidnapped and murdered kids is mind blowing. It isn't made for the faint hearted as some killing, cutting, chopping scenes are too chilling and gory to say the least. But its done in such a convincing way that you actually feel fine with the way she does it. In the end all you can do is sympathize for her character.

Its a must watch for all thriller / revenge movie lovers.
I haven't seen a better movie on the subject in a long time.
Going to catch the third of the series soon.
It was an amazing experience.
Do not miss it.

Before Sunet (2004)

I had to see this immediately after I saw "Before Sunrise" where both the leads meet in a train, fall in love and separate with a promise to meet again in six months on the same day at the same place. Obviously they don't meet and go on with their lives.

This one starts 9 years later. Jesse has become a successful writer and has written a book on their one day together in vienna. He is on his way to US after doing the trip of Europe and his last stop was paris where he is talking to journalists about his book. To his and our surprise he sees Julie lokking at him and smiling. Again their meeting after 9 years is time constrained and he has to take a flight back in couple of hours.

They meet and catch up on lost time and we realize that they have moved on. He is a writer, married with a kid. She is an environment advocate with a boy friend. Both are way too unhappy in their respective lives and crave for each other. That one night in vienna has changed and affected their lives big time.

You are actually hooked big time to this one too as they seem so perfectly fit and made for each other yet they just couldn't do it. You just get swept in their conversation totally and the paris just happens by in background. As expected they end it to your imagination. You've got to see it to believe it.

I'm sure they will be coming out with a third part some time soon to end our guessing :). Its such a beautiful movie again that makes you think and take stock of your own life. There is so many ways that it cud have ended. Let's see where it goes from here.

Its a must watch for all drama cum romantic from heart lovers.
I'm waiting eagerly for the final part.
Hope they make it soon.

Before Sunrise (1995)



Some movies sweep you off your feet and take you in a different world altogether. This is one of them. A different experience and such a smooth ride that you wish it should never end. But just like all the other good things - it has to come to an end.

Two beautiful strangers meet in a train and hook up together for a day just like that. They end up talking about everything under the sun. Their personal lives, behavior, world, beauty, strangers, music and everything else which keeps happening during the vienna exploration that they do. Its such a spontaneous cake walk that you just can't help but fall in love with them. Just like they don't realize when they fall for each other - you too don't. Before going their separate ways to their regular life with a promise to meet again same day in six month at same place. They promise not to call or write each other. Will they ever meet again?? Need to see the next part to know that.
I must have seen this like 5 times by now. But every time I see I make a bond more stronger with the characters. I am even trying now to get a hair cut like ethan ;). I know - I won't look like 1/10 of the dashing guy. And julie delpy is just awesomely beautiful.

We so many times meet so many strangers during our course of journeys that this feels very natural. What if we get to know of any of those strangers? Would that change our life in anyways? Would we still have the same life if we ever take a day off our regular life and do something difference. It makes you think hard and take stock of your own life too. I like that. I'm sure the director must have got the idea from one of his own travelogues. And what a wonderful way he has put it up.

Its a must must watch for all drama cum love story fans.
You will be hooked big time.
Do not miss it - if already not seen.
You don't know what you are missing.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Head VS Heart!!

My head is fighting with my heart for quite a while now. Over something I am not able to take a decision. Heart says "go ahead dude. Big deal?? You can do it. You are going to love it. Why keep thinking? Get it. You can. You should. Why not?". Head says "are you nuts? Gone bonkers?? You don't need it. It aint for you man. Forget it".

Now how hard it is to bloody come to a conclusion? How hard it is to do something I love doing? Not that I haven't done it in the past or don't have time to do it anymore or I can't afford to do it. Whatever!!

I have this close friend of mine who keeps telling me that his passion is driving but it has taken a backseat since money making has become more important in life right now than pursuing your passions. I guess the last time he drove a car was with me. When I had to rush on a family emergency and I cudnt do 1200 kms trip alone. He proved his driving skills and turned out to be a damn good driver. The only thing is - he neither has time nor inclination to go anywhere. Works seven days a week :( poor soul.

I have this another friend who claims that he is very passionate about movies but if you ask him "which movie you saw last?" And he will go on a deep thinking mode before replying :).

How do you define passion?
Something that you really love doing but can't? Or something that you love and keep doing irrespective of whatever comes your way? So if you can't do something you love but have no time - can you still be called passionate about it? I guess so.

We are all humans after all.
We think more than we can actually do. I feel we all fill our plates more than we can actually eat. I realized the same about good 8 years back and since then has put it on right track - so I feel. It simply feels great to do something I actually love and feel like doing. But its just a little hard at times ;). Like right now when I am undecided about the decision I need to take. I may or may not but most probably I will. Its just WHEN?? Which is the bigger question. Soon - is what my heart says and never is what my head says. Let's see who wins in the end.