I've been having this insomnia issue for a couple of months now and found it rather ironic that tonight as I've been goofing off on the net instead of going to sleep like a good girl, the song I'm humming to myself is "Dream Girl"- the title song from the fabulous 1977 movie starring THE dream girl Hema Malini and "Garam Dharam" Dharmendra.
I do have some comments/questions though:
- Who TP'd Hema Malini's portrait with the giant white question mark? They have questions too? - Where did HM get her industrial-strength magic dupatta - strong enough for Dharam to walk on? - What kind of acid was he on at 0:47? It reminds me of Disney's The Three Caballeros. Trippy. - Why couldn't they have saved these sets as a tourist attraction? I for one would love to dress up in my finest lehengas and traipse around on them. - WHERE ARE WE at 2:05? His dream bedroom? It is terrifying. - The giant wedding cake at roughly 3:00 is inspired. I want to believe it's edible too. And I want to visit it. - What is that moon made of at 3:23? It's not green cheese! And isn't levitating supposed to be a demonic power, Hems? - Edward Cullen ain't got NUTHIN on our sparkly Hems at 3:33. I SO wanted to BE her. Look at how her lipgloss twinkles! - I must be really hungry because it looks to me like the room at 4:18 is filled with giant gulab jamuns.
Por su originalidad, por su estilo masculino y rudo, por su excelente capacidad para impactar cada vez que gritan Luz, Cámara, Acción!, Ellen Page es nuestra chica indie trendy de esta semana. Es la princesa de los sneakers y las chaquetas andróginas, con rostro de ángel. Se destacó en las películas "Hard Candy", "Juno", "An american Crime" y la reciente "Whip It", dirigida por Drew Barrymore y altamente recomendable. Sin dudas, no teme a la hora de elegir papeles controversiales, de historias fuertes o socialmente polémicas, y eso es lo que deslumbra: su identidad fílmica definida y su estilo irrevocable.
On Sunday I had a previously-taken-for-granted treat: a day hanging out with Sister Virginia. It was Pride Day, but we didn't have terribly exciting plans. Just a little browsing around SoHo, visiting old haunts and generally enjoying one another's company. It was sweltering day, humid as it gets up here in NYC, and we were deep into conversation as we got on the subway platform at my stop, Astoria Boulevard. Can't recall what we were discussing. What I can recall, is being insistently spoken to by a stranger. You know that feeling, when you've recognized somebody wants somebody else's attention, but of course it couldn't be you, because you don't just run into people, but then - oh, wait - yes. Yes, that person is talking to you. And what they're saying, is this:
"Excuse me. Excuse me. Woman in the orange? Yes, I just want you both to know that I don't appreciate you following me."
"What?"
"I don't appreciate you following me onto the subway platform."
"...Okay."
And she marches past us, down to the far end of the platform.
So: Fine. Another New York crazy person. True, she didn't exactly bear the marks of the typical NYC loon -- she was very clean, small, well-dressed (as though for yoga or the park) -- but she did have that sheen to her glare that suggested a certain intensely unkempt morale. So: All right then. Jenny and I continue our conversation, veering only momentarily into "that was odd" territory.
And then, a few minutes later, our sudden enemy crosses back the other way.
"I guess you must be Team Shawna, but I'm Team Natalie, and you better stop bothering me." (Ed. - I can't remember what she said verbatim, but I'm pretty sure the name Shawna was mentioned.)
"I'm sorry. We don't know what you're talking about."
And she was gone again, this time the other way up the platform. So now I'm keeping a bit of an eye on her, because I'm fascinated, and she's got my fight-or-flight instinct up. I'm suddenly aware - for no particular reason - that we're on a platform suspended twenty-five feet over traffic and surrounded on either side by electrified metal rails. But, this woman walks on up in the other direction, beyond the bench and entrance stairwell at the middle of the platform, to where I can no longer see her. Me: "That is so strange." Jenny: "I just figure - crazy people, New York." And we try to move on in the conversation, but I have to admit that I'm now utterly puzzled and intrigued and somewhat scared. Chalk it up to reading too much Kafka and Pirandello. But the train comes, and there's no more sign of our little tormentor, so we gratefully garnish ourselves with air conditioning and grab a seat.
From there our conversation continues into more personal, important stuff than it had been, and I get engrossed enough to let go of trying to wrap my head around what is apparently the most dire "Team _______" conflict since Twilight. The benches on the N train run along either wall, and I'm turned facing the direction in which the train is running so I can talk to Jenny on that side. It's a fairly crowded train, but not jam-packed as yet. We proceed a few stops, nearing the tunnel that swoops us underground and into Manhattan, and I happen to turn to my left for a moment.
And there she is again. Staring daggers. In our car, not five feet from us. She was not, to be perfectly clear, NOT in our car to begin with. She was not, as far as I can tell, in fact able to monitor us from where she had been positioned on the platform when the train arrived. No, the woman who was accusing us of following her had seemingly traversed moving train cars to find the one in which we sat.
All this I realized as I instantaneously swirled back into Jenny's eye contact, not wanting to give Ms. Antagonist any (further?) reason to suspect we were passive-aggressively pursuing her whereabouts. She momentarily thereafter strode past us on down the car. I'm not even sure Jenny noticed she was ever there. And I never saw her again, for the rest of the day.
But I sure as hell kept looking for her. How could I not? I was half-convinced that I would run into her again, totally randomly, thereby inadvertently providing her with the final evidence she needed in order to prove her theory of our antagonism. I even - of course, though I tried to resist it - wondered if she might not be following us. That is to say, I resisted this thought because it would essentially mean that she had successfully transmitted her disease to me, the germs of her paranoia turned airborne and plague-like. The terrible likelihood is that I will indeed see our mysterious interloper again soon. She probably lives off the same subway stop as me, and will mistake Megan for Jenny some coincidental day and presume the whole espionage has begun all over again. To be totally frank . . . she didn't look unfamiliar. Maybe it was just the openness of her naked hostility, but I thought, maybe, I knew her somehow.
Now look: I'm not peering continuously over my shoulder or anything (not continuously, anyway) and I don't think there was anything profound to this woman's mistake. Odds are that she is simply going through some tough stuff in her life about now, and that has made her paranoid and/or quasi-psychotic. In fact, I feel bad about not being able to convince her that we at least were not out to get her. HOWEVER: Holy crap. Was I about to be in a Hitchcock or Fincher movie? Was I targeted for some Improv Everywhere prank, that just had yet to get joyous and un-terrifying? Was it performance art and, if so, who would think Pride Day a good day to have such a thing noticed?
All this has given me an idea that I don't think I'll get around to any time soon, so I'm putting out there for you, The World, to do with as you please. Friend Nat is frighteningly good - pun intended - at creating a sense of dread on stage, and his efforts at such effects along with some of my more hypothetical conversations with other friends about theatrical horror have me thinking that this might be a good, simple scenario for really creeping out an audience. The trouble as I see it with most staged "horror" is that it too-easily falls into a similar trap as many stage comedies do. That is, the burden of catharsis is often placed upon effects, or gags, rather than on human behavior. This results in camp, which has its place, but often doesn't know its place. It can creep in anywhere, like the annoying neighbor finding your dinner party. Before you know it, it's arguing politics and complaining about the wine and all your guests feel cheapened, like some terrible, overwrought and distended simile.
So: my behavior-based scary stage-play scenario thing: I imagine it starting with a romantic couple (A & B) meeting somewhere public, possibly a restaurant. One of them (B) is late, and by the time he or she gets there, they find their significant other (A) rattled by something. A explains that they just had the weirdest series of "coincidences" (see above) with this stranger. B listens, tries to calm down A, and gradually A relaxes to the point of laughing at him or herself a bit. B excuses him or herself to use the restroom, and as A sits there, he or she is approached by someone (C). Though seemingly relaxed, A shouts at the introduction of C: a waiter. A apologizes, making meaningless excuses, orders something, etc., and C leaves. B returns and A doesn't share what just happened. A gets a call he or she has to take, and steps away to take it. As B sits there, he or she is approached by someone he or she knows somewhat (i.e., though work - D) and D takes a seat. Of course, on A's return he or she recognizes D as his or her antagonist, and it all goes quietly haywire.
It's a sketch of a beginning (with lots of sex-generic alphabetical confusion, for which: you're welcome) but from there I see it getting more and more tense and scary, no idea of an ending yet. It starts out as a Pirandello-esque conflict between A and D, with B as something of a helpless arbiter with some interest in reaching a resolution, and C occasionally interjecting to keep the conflict from exploding into the public space. Which is to say, A and D have completely irreconcilable stories about their relationship that they each feel a growing need to convince B of. Cell phone usage should figure prominently, so long as it doesn't start to irritate; I imagine texting under the table, faking calls, etc. Personal revelations should be used sparingly, so it doesn't become all about what the audience doesn't know about their respective and interrelated pasts. That having been said, there should certainly be one or two revelatory twists, one preferably just prior to the act break. And in Act II...well...
In Act II, all are in a private space, and some time has passed. I'm imagining that our sympathies lie largely with A in Act I, and in Act II we begin to question that emotion, possibly because A forced one or more of them into this new, private space (his/her storage space?). Even if that didn't happen, A certainly turns cruel in his or her attempts to extricate him or herself from the conflict. Possibly physically cruel. Relationships change drastically, the stakes continue to mount, until it ends in a seemingly hopeful way. Seemingly, because there's also some tag moment at the very end, some bit of information that sets the whole conclusion into a teetering sense of doubt. That's what the audience leaves with: a sense of profound uncertainty.
There you go. Write me a play, The World, as close or as far from this scenario as you are so inspired. But please, The World, one request? Whichever of you was that antagonistic yogi -- stay away from me. Thanks bunches! Hugs!!!
Sigh. Nothing makes me happier than a good book. Except maybe the perfect rom-com (see: "The Truth About Cats and Dogs". Since purchasing on Saturday I have seen it 4 times. And counting. I fucken love it and am constantly thinking about watching it again, even when I'm watching it. It is perfect). Anyway I spent about 45 minutes in Dymocks yesterday...just looking. Looking at rows and rows and thousands and thousands of words and wanting to buy so many books.
Alas, I refrained. Because at the moment, I am povo. I can try and fool myself by buying $58 lipsticks, but it is all a farce. I cannot keep spending my money the way I have been.
I do not even need to. On my shelf are the following brand-new, as yet unread books: Catch-22, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Perfume, A Clockword Orange, Fences and Windows, The Witches of Eastwick, And the Ass Saw the Angel, Kingdom of Fear, The Beach, In Cold Blood, Down Under, A Short History of Nearly Everything, Queens, The Shipping News, Stupid White Men, and a whole bunch of uni books I bought with no intention of reading. Seriously, those are just the ones I can see. Some of them I have had for YEARS and have not started reading. I think it's mainly the ones with the orange Penguin cover. It is just so ugly and uninspiring it truly affects me. And I didn't even include the ones I started and have not finished.
And yet...I want these:
I only own ONE Margaret Atwood book and seriously need to build up my collection. I've read a bit of this for uni (possibly wrote an essay on it?) and quite like it. So it's a logical place to start.
Kurt Cobain notebooks. I read a bit of this in the store and had to force myself to put it down. Want please.
This I have read, but I simply must own a copy. It is awesome. One of my Palahniuk faves.
LOOK HE HAS A NEW ONE! I saw this yesterday and genuinely squealed. So much excitement. Chuck is one of my favourite authors of all time and even studying "Fight Club" at uni did not ruin his work for me. That is a huge deal. A new Chuck Palahniuk in the world means it is a better world.
I love John Irving, but I haven't read these two. I feel like I should as they are like his seminal works or whatever. I will get around to it. In 2020.
Phwoar. Who has seen "Head On"? So sexy. Go go go go go!
I haven't read an Augusten Burroughs book for a while. Everything I've read by Burroughs since "Dry" has failed to live up to its calibre. Does anyone know if it is worthwhile? Let me know.
Duh. I am only totally obsessed with her. Recently read "My Horizontal Life" and currently reading "Are you there vodka, it's me Chelsea" and struggling to go more slowly so I don't finish it in one night. It is so. good. I actually laugh out loud. Alone, in bed. Laughing manically. How will I live until I get the next one? It is 35 bucks! Must have it though. Must.
Also, am very happy to get rid of some of my current collection in exchange for any of the above. If anyone wants to give me some, I can provide these in return: Borderlands (Gloria Anzaldua), The Crying of Lot 49 (Thomas Pynchon), Kokoro (Natsume Soseki), Sound Bites (Alex Kapranos), The Big Sleep (Raymond Chandler), 3x Dan Brown books, Sex and the City (Candace Bushnell), The Day of the Locust (Nathaneal West), Bliss (Peter Carey), To the Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf). Yes, most of these are uni texts.
This spring we're all great sports fans. Caps, sneakers, letters and numbers are everywhere and in everyone. Follow me to the game! Recommended collections: Alexander Wang, Alexandre Herchcovitch, Hermès, Lacoste, Proenza.
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Esta primavera todos somos grandes fanáticos del deporte. Gorras, zapatillas, insignias, letras y números se encuentran por doquier.
Colecciones recomendadas: Alexander Wang, Alexandre Hercovitch, Hermès, Lacoste y Proenza.
There's a lot of buzz about "Chiyaan" Vikram these days, and rightfully so. The buzz about Raavan vs. Raavanan almost unanimously proclaims that Vikram blew Abhishek out of the water in the title role. I have only seen the tamil version, and as usual Vikram's acting was incredibly compelling. It's hard to imagine that ANYONE could out-act him in this role, I don't care if your name IS Khan. That role was made for Vikram.
For those just jumping on the bandwagon after Raavan/Raavanan, Vikram has been a HUGE fan favorite in Tamil films for a long time now. He has proven himself as a truly refined actor in film after film, taking on challenging, complex roles with both positive and negative shades, many times both in one. His films are what we Tamil Movie fans look forward too (and sometimes we get disappointed, cough cough, KANDHASAMY). He has a sort of gruff, ultra masculine appeal and an on-screen intensity that can cause goosebumps.
I spotted him pretty early on, in the 1997 film Ullasam in which he co-starred with Ajith Kumar and Maheshwari. The story was pretty simple, a criminal (Raghuvaran) lived near a good upstanding citizen (SPB), the son of the good guy (Ajith) starts working with the criminal, so his father after trying to sway his son and failing, starts to encourage the criminal's son (Vikram) to go good. Naturally the two boys end up falling for the same girl (Maheshwari), who falls for Ajith's character. Being a sensitive sucker, I totally felt bad for Vikram's character and therefore loved him ever since. But then again, there's a certain animal magnetism about him, as evidenced in numbers like this:
Interestingly enough, this movie was produced by ABCL, Amitabh Bachchan's production company! I can see why Vikram and Abhishek go way back.
However no one else seemed to notice his awesomeness until 1999, when Sethu came out. Sethu is the movie from which he got his nickname of "Chiyaan" -- it's his character's nickname in the movie. It's a really sad, depressing movie honestly, but no one can deny his acting abilities, especially in the scenes after he is attacked and ends up with brain damage.
This movie was remade in Hindi as Tere Naam and starred Salman Khan and Bhumika Chawla.
Oh Sallz. The bald look would have been better.
A string of hits followed for Vikram, including Dhill (which was remade in Hindi as Dum starring Vivek Oberoi and Diya Mirza), Kasi (another depressing one in which he plays a blind man - won him the Filmfare Best Tamil Actor award), Gemini (which features the fabulous song "Oh Podu" and won him the IFTA Best Actor award), Arul (with Southie sweetheart Jyothika) and the much-talked about Pithamagan (which EVERYONE loved and I hated. He was tremendous in it as another handicapped character and yes, he won the Filmfare Tamil Best Actor, National Film Award and Tamil Nadu State Film awards, but it was just SO depressing).
Some of MY favorite movies of his are:
1. Dhool (2003)
This movie had a lot of the same elements as most Tamil movies, the single, angry hero from a small, simple background going after the corrupt politicians, but somehow this one was more fun. Sure, it was enhanced by the fun presence of the leading ladies, Jyothika and Reema Sen, and even more so by the amazing Parvai Muniyamma.
Parvai Muniyamma is a big part of why I loved this movie, because she made the following fight scene 100x better:
The songs in this movie were amazing! We were totally obsessed with them when it came out.
Koduva Meesai was THE hit song at my sister's wedding in 2004 and still got everyone on the dance floor at my wedding a year later. It was awesome because there were Punjabi guys on the dance floor dancing their hearts out and then they suddenly realized they were dancing to a Tamil song! They looked so confused!
I have a weird affection for Reema Sen, I really loved her in Minnale and feel like she has some solid talent, but keeps getting roles like this one. This song is still catchy though:
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this song, Aasai Aasai. Get the point?
This movie also has the fabulous comedy stylings of Vivek who enters at about 2:20, and who never fails to make me laugh, and the intense villainy of the amazing Pasupathy (whose role in Kuselan completely blows away Irfan Khan's attempt in the Hindi remake, Billu Barber) who comes in at about 0:44:
All in all, Dhool is a win.
2. Kadhal Sadugudu (2003) So this film is considered a complete flop, and I don't really get why. I don't really remember the movie in its entirety, but it was a love story, with the overwhelming father (played by the fabulous Prakash Raj) opposing the union. I DO remember the romantic scenes though, and I thought they were fantastic! Memorable, full of intensity, passion and tension. Or maybe I'm just remembering that there was a full-on kiss between Vikram and heroine Priyanka Trivedi.
Highly disturbing though was the fact that they decided to suddenly adapt 80s classic "Yeh Vaada Raha" into tamil???
And yeah, apparently you can watch the movie online. Maybe I'll do a re-watch and see if I still like it.
3. Saamy (2003) One of my favorites!!! Trisha Krishnan plays a Palghat Iyer brahmin girl, which she is in real life. This was exciting to me because I am too. REPRESENT!
So it's not a new story, Good cop trying to battle corruption and all that. It was still interesting and masala enough to keep one entertained throughout. The BEST thing was of course, the songs!!!
This is me and my husband's SONG. No its not a soft, romantic number. It's a hardcore thappanguthu song. And it is SOOO FUN. The best is the verse in which he says she looks yummy and talks nice, can she cook yummy too? And she replies that she can make a special lentil dish for him if he wishes. He says "Did I ask you for prasadam (food offered to God for blessings)? Can you cook any spicy rice dishes?" and she says she can make spicy pepper rasam and preserves/pickle really well and for him to try it. He then says "Can you make crab? Can you make Chicken? Can you make Leg of Goat soup?" and she ends up telling him to check out her waist, it's nice and hot! HAHAHA.
My other favorite song in this movie is Pudichirikku - I used to LOVE this song!
And of course the signature hero entry song:
4. Majaa (2005) I really, really liked this movie. It was SO different from what I expected Vikram to do following the success of Anniyan, which I will talk about shortly. But the story was different and sort of fun! And it also starred the super amazing Pasupathy and one of my favorite senior actors, Manivannan. Manivannan and his two sons, Pasupathy and Vikram, are former petty criminals trying to mend their ways. Pasupathy has a harder time than Vikram adjusting (kind of like how Jasper Hale is having a harder time becoming an emo sparkly vegetarian vampire than Edward Cullen. You know you want to read Twilight). They come across our heroine, Asin, while trying to help a friend. She's the daughter of our villain, and in fighting each other, she and Vikram fall in love. Of course Daddy Dearest isn't too happy at first, but once he realizes that they sincerely love each other, he agrees to arrange the marriage. However an accusation during the wedding could possibly separate the happy couple! GASP! Did Pasupathy fall back to his old ways?
Again, the songs!!!
This number was the most popular from the movie, and the most racy too. Coincidence?
This a really great, peppy, fun dance number:
Honestly, it's a tough call as to whether Vikram or Pasupathy is really the star of this movie.
5. Anniyan (2005) Anniyan is THE ultimate Vikram movie. It was apparently inspired by the Sidney Sheldon novel 'Tell Me Your Dreams', which I have never read. It won 8 Filmfare (South) awards, including Best Tamil Actor for Vikram. I'm surprised Vikram's nickname wasn't changed to Ambi or Remo after this movie. His characters are incredible. Ambi is meek, sweet and pitiable. Remo is annoyingly cool and Westernized, and, well ... you'll just have to see. Sada has a good solid role as his love interest, Nandini. Prakash Raj shows his usual brilliance in the Police Chief role, and Vivek provides some of his hilarious comedy in a side role. It's a fantastic psychological thriller, borderline crazy at some parts, but has a good backstory, mythology, etc. There are heartbreaking moments, side-stiching moments, cover-your-eyes-scary moments, etc. It definitely requires a certain suspension of belief, but if you're an Indian movie fan, that should be a given. I have seen this movie at least 4-5 times and I just don't get sick of it.
And of course, the brilliant songs!!!
(scroll in a little to get to the song)
There's A LOT of SPOILER clips on the ErosTamil YouTube Channel ... this one has subtitles but is super-duper spoilery, so don't check it out unless you aren't planning to see the movie (which you REALLY should, it's fantastic).
Here's a scene where Vikram's acting totally broke my heart into little pieces. Non-spoilery and subtitled too.
I have to give special mention to the movie Bheema, which was his most recent release before Kandhasamy and Raavanan. The songs were EXCELLENT and most of the movie was pretty good too, it's just the ending that threw me for a loop. But Bheema's songs are worth checking out, especially Ragasiya Kanavugal and Mudhal Mazhai.
I recently saw the tamil version of Raavan (Raavanan) which starred Vikram in the title role of Veera (Abhishek Bachchan plays the role in the Hindi version) and this, like Anniyan, is a movie where you can watch him go through the whole spectrum of emotion in a moment. He had incredible chemistry with his co-star Aishwariya Rai, and really made the character of Veera believable and likeable. I'm excited to see the hindi version, in which he plays the opposite role of Dev, the police man. And I also hope that now that a larger audience has seen the talent he possesses, the scripts that come his way in the future will be more refined and showcase him as the mature, dedicated and powerful actor that he is.
Ok, because my thoughts are caught somewhere between Govinda, Vikram (based on Raavanan) and Harry Potter (oh, you didn't realize? I'm a girl of many obsessions), I wanted to dedicate a song to Govinda. He could never truly appreciate the dedication because it's a tamil song from the Vikram-Asin starrer Majaa, but there's a little something about this song that brought Govinda to mind. I think if you listen to it, you'll see what I mean.
Ella es María Elena, uno de los personajes más ricos de los largometrajes dirigidos y escritos por Woodie Allen. Cigarillo en mano, neurótica, critica y despotrica sin límites. La historia gira completamente con su retorno. Su sensualidad natural acapara la pantalla y hechiza a cada espectador, regalándole un recuerdo agridulce, con una mezcla de histeria y pura honestidad.
Sonam Kapoor With Sister Rhea Kapoor
Anil Kapoor With Wife and Daughters Sonam and Rhea
Anil Kapoor's Daughter Rhea Kapoor
Sonam Kapoor's Sister Rhea Kapoor Pictures
Robert Vittek
Robert Vittek
Robert Vittek Daughter
Robert Vittek
Robert Vittek
Barcelona players
Barcelona players
Barcelona players
Barcelona players
Barcelona players
Samuel Eto'o
Samuel Eto'o
Samuel Eto'o Wife
Samuel Eto'o
Samuel Eto'o
