Saturday, May 19, 2012

Movies that need to be made...

Here is a list of stuff that I want to be seen made into full length movies -

1. Samurai Jack

Oh yes! Easily the best action cartoon series ever. Samurai Jack traveling through time and fighting the evil Aku's mechanical henchmen and making allies with some uber-cool people. I want a Samurai Jack movie badly (it needs to be animated by Genndy Tartakovsky though).
If any of you want to give me a gift, then I want the entire Blue-Ray Samurai Jack collection, all 4 seasons (if such a thing exists).

2. Byomkesh Bakshi

Ah the Indian take on Sherlock Holmes, set in Calcutta and solving crimes in crisp white kurtas. Awesome. I wonder who can be cast as Byomkesh... I know that I would want Abhay Deol to be the side-kick, Ajith. This will make a wonderful movie for sure!

3. He-man and the masters of the universe

Anything that has 'Masters of the universe' in the title has  to be awesome. So is He-man. The cartoon series won over so many hearts in India in the 90s.
I wish wish wish there was a full length movie made and I don't mean the crap they made in live action with Dolph Lundgren in it. I am hoping for a full length animated movie.

4. Neverwhere

This Neil Gaiman book, set in the London Underground is one of my favourites. IMDB tells me that there's a TV mini-series already. I so wish they would make this into a movie. Zack Snyder at the helm maybe?  If nothing else we'll at least have a good soundtrack.

5. Good Omens

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett co-wrote this. This one is already overloaded with awesomeness of all kinds. I am sure it would make a strange movie. But I would love to watch it. Of course it could well go down the route of 'Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy'. Some books never make good films. But who knows?

Friday, May 18, 2012

The bird bath

It's summer and though Delhi has witnessed its coolest month of May in 30 odd years, the mercury is rising.
I stay indoors, in the comforts of an air-conditioned home, car or office, despite it all, I mostly have a parched throat that requires a continuous intake of water and orange juice through the day.

Spare a thought for the birds. 

We've just put out a bowl of water on the balcony, it's a simple enough thing to do and it seems to help.


Initially we did not think that the birds were that keen on consuming the water, but yesterday we found a pigeon sipping some . 
The water needs to be replenished everyday (some of it is gone thanks to evaporation, I suppose), hopefully the birds are getting most of it :)

So please please, just put out a container of water for the birds this summer. Its a simple act. Be nice.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Movies that I recommend...

The stupid white background on the blog, just made me averse to posting or blogging. Now I have gone back to a colour that suits me better. Hopefully this will lead to more posts

Okay, I've watched loads of movies since the last time and I am not in the zone to write about them all. But here are some(in no particular order) that you must try and watch - 

Drive

Ryan Gosling plays a getaway driver for hire. He will drive you away from the scene of the crime for a fee. 
His character is socially inept and given to long brooding silences. The movie does not pick pace until he falls for his neighbour (who is married with a kid and a husband in jail).
When the movie does pick up pace, its still slowish :)
The action becomes very violent in the second half and the very interesting soundtrack almost contradicts what you see on screen. The soundtrack is super-awesome and the fight scenes reminded me of Mel Gibson's "Payback". The direction is brilliant,
Its a movie that you will either like or hate. But its one that you must watch.

Avengers

Enough has been written about this. It starts all slow and talkative but once Bruce Banner turns into the Hulk we have a good movie on our hands.
Yes, Tony Stark again gets all the witty one-liners, but its the Hulk who gets the best cheers. 
Captain America and Hawkeye are mostly, also-rans but the Black Widow gets some decent screen time.
And there's Robin! No not the Batman one, the 'How I met your mother' one :D
The good: The Hulk and Tony Stark.
The bad: What? all these super heroes assemble for a sissy villain like Loki? Doesn't seem right. Now Red Skull would have definitely made a more menacing villain. That's the next of the series I suppose.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

The real reason I watched this movie was for 'Benedict Cumberbatch'. Who? you ask.

Well, Cumberbatch plays Sherlock Holmes in the super impressive series "Sherlock". I was so impressed that I looked if I had any movie in my collection that had him in it. 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' met the requirements.
Gary Oldman plays 'George Smiley' a popular le carré character.
A mission goes bad and the presence of a mole in the British intelligence is evident. Smiley's handed the job to ferret out the mole.
I loved this movie.

The girl with the dragon tattoo

Watched the English version. It's really good. Rooney Maara is fantastic!  Haven't read the books yet, but I have the next book in the series on my bedside.
I also plan to watch the Swedish version's of the films since something tells me they will be great.
Must watch this one.