Archives For Misc.

I’m maybe one of two (or three) people that actually liked Ghaath. Actually, scratch that- IMDb is showing me that, at least, 20 people have voted this movie over 6. So there you go, we’re about 20 people. But maybe I have a strong bias, the film has a political moralistic theme of the late-90s early 00s era but avoids the masala shenanigans for the most part, it also has Anu Malik music — with two great songs that I enjoy — and the chemistry between Tabu and Manoj Bajpayee, who are also getting back together this year (after Salman in Jai Ho, Ajay in the upcoming Drishyam).

When a titillating item song comes on screen, I’m usually the one rolling my eyes at some of the embarrassment… and the Telugu film industry has usually taken the cake when it comes to silly sexism. Not even Tabu can escape it (her number in Pandurangadu gets the crown with that orange juice moment). However, I do remember the first time that I ever gasped seeing a Bollywood movie because *gasp* They kissed! It was the Chup Chup Ke [clip] number in Bunty Aur Babli. It was before I realized I did enjoyed seeing Abhishek and Rani together [1], but they were always married on film!

In the number for Teri Aashiqui Meri Zindagi, Tabu’s character is never married to Manoj’s, they fairly recently met at their family/friend’s wedding and had their moment in Hum Bhi Samajh Rahe Hain [clip] — there sure is a lot of rain and white-wearing caressing and singing, but it’s just playful boy-meets-girl girl-meets-boy, a lot of face-touching… but never EVER an engagement or wedding, yet… yet… there’s this 20-second love-making behind a torn down hellenistic column that results in a baby. LOL

There’s all sort of face and neck action foreplay (I’m like “Omo, omomomomomo I swear she’s licking that neck“) before the hellenistic column action, as well as the obvious after scene.

Of course there was a baby. There’s never a sex scene in these movies that doesn’t end with these consequences… it happens here in Ghaath, as it happens in Raiou.

I like these one-on-one interviews, especially when you have performance-oriented people. Too bad Nawazuddin Siddiqui doesn’t feel comfortable speaking English- 1. Maybe these Meeting Ground interviews are always in English. 2. If they’re not necessarily in English, I wouldn’t understand a thing he says in Hindi. xD

This time Kangana Ranaut and Irrfan Khan are one-on-one after the commercial success of Tanu Weds Manu Returns and Piku, respectively. In the brief 20min interview, they talk about acting nuances with a super brief Acting 101, as well as people’s obsession with Box Office numbers (in this case, making the 100 crore club), the -now- discerning audience (and the massy one), not longer being a working actor who needs to constantly do movies to make a living, being an outsider, PLUS! the strength and vitriol that is social media.

Happy watching!

On the Box Office obsession and audience talks, it’s a general worldwide problem, you guys. Last year headlines declared How to Train your Dragon 2 a box office flop when it made “just” $50M USD. Joining the $1B USD club is big on studio heads, and having the most profitable franchise is a plus for actors.

The audience everywhere is half and half- good movie don’t make money, bad movies that make loads. The audience and press vitriol on review and social media. They’re not solely Bollywood problems ;)

tabu-the-namesake

img source

Well, this week has been an active Tabu week~ first, news that Rekha had backed out of Abhishek Kapoor’s Great Expectations adaptation, Fitoor, and having Tabu land on the gig. Then the hindi Drishyam team teased a shot of Tabu in cop get-up in prep for the release of the trailer (my gosh, the movie promotion machine these days). I think they also announced Manoj Bajpayee’s and Tabu’s upcoming film Missing [1], while putting in on the table that Tabu will be playing Katrina Kaif’s sister in Fitoor and not a crazy aunt. Ha, they look nothing alike. Reminds me of Chinese movie-casting.

Phew. I think I covered my basis.

Tabu is going to eat people alive on that set. I know Cuaron’s version is not very popular, but I love it.

I randomly ran into this amazingness of 2013 that I had never heard a peep from. Why wasn’t this viral? It’s weird for people, it’s super funny, and it’s got dancing Ahyis~

I couldn’t find much info on it, a search for Puffy Peng heeds no results, so I’ll add the Chinese characters in. The song is… I suppose in Taiwanese (?) and has some bits of dialog in Mandarin, and is possibly your dance routine next time you hit the (super)market.

It also spawned this mash-up of Beyonce’s Single Ladies.

I think… in contrast to last year, I might be liking Dum Laga Ke Haisha much better than movies like 2 States or Queen. It’s modern like those two dealing with issues, it’s got as strong acting (though Queen had the disadvantage of foreign acting, which always tends to be the weakest link anywhere in the world), but it’s much fresher in style with its honest 90s Bollywood throwback. And thank you gods that there was no bumping electro-dance disco song.

It’ll need to simmer, but it looks good for YRF at the moment.

Oooh, it’s been a while since I’ve been taken by a poster :) Anybody know who was in charge of the design?

nirbaak-poster-sushmita-sen-bengali

Buongiorno, Principessa! Stanotte t’ho sognata tutta la notte, andavamo al cinema, e avevi quel tailleur rosa che ti piace tanto, non penso che a te principessa, penso sempre a te!

-I just realized… the English quote is so weirdly translated.

Buongiorno, Principessa!

Oh, Happy Chinese New Year! Let’s start my (supposedly) bad-luck Goat Year with the now-mandatory Letterboxd list of my film collection~

amys-film-collection-letterboxd

I have a really weird history with films– born in the late 80s, you’d think I would’ve grown watching loads of 90s kids stuff, but I actually grew up with a lot of Silly Symphonies (which were released in the 30s) and loads of Disney 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s stuff, plus a lot of more grown up 80s movies. Poltergeist, The Thing, The Fly and The Stuff were particularly scary stuff (and I’m pretty sure I was scared of yogurt or white stuff at some point).

I don’t ever remember buying any original VHS tape, except for the rare birthday gift of a Disney’s Sing-Along Songs chapter or that X-Men tape I have. My first DVDs buys were Coyote Ugly, She’s All That and Loser — you can’t blame me. I was a 15-year-old girl. The collection grew bigger, and possibly exploded during my years abroad. I’m nearing my 500th movie.

I just posted my 350th review, Jigarthanda [also in Español], which happens to be my 30th (sorta) Indian film review. So~ commemorating! Here’s a list of my first 30 Indian film reviews. You can actually see how my journey [1][2][3][4][5] has shaped up from DDLJ, KKHH and K3G YRF, SRK (and Kajol, though I posted her reviews later on) and Karan Johar-centric to Bhansali, Rani, Vidya, Madhuri, alternative Hindi cinema to regional stuff.

my-30-indian-film-reviews

Here we go (in order of posting date):

  1. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge [tmb en Español]
  2. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
  3. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham
  4. Chennai Express [tmb en Español]
  5. Black
  6. Khamoshi: The Musical
  7. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
  8. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
  9. Kahaani
  10. U Me Aur Hum
  11. Bombay Talkies [tmb en Español]
  12. Hey Ram
  13. Fanaa
    But honestly~ these photo recaps are best [Part 1][Part 2]
  14. Hasee Toh Phasee
  15. Gulaab Gang
  16. Moondram Pirai/Sadma
  17. Shaadi Ke Side Effects
  18. Aiyyaa
  19. Dedh Ishqiya [tmb en Español]
  20. Siddharth
  21. Goynar Baksho [tmb en Español]
  22. CityLights
  23. Kadal
  24. Bangalore Days [tmb en Español]
  25. The Hundred-Foot Journey [tmb en Español]
    (I know, I know. Not strictly Indian but was produced by Reliance~)
  26. Mardaani [tmb en Español]
  27. Lucia [tmb en Español]
  28. Happy New Year [tmb en Español]
  29. Haider [tmb en Español]
  30. Jigarthanda

And if you want to keep track of my reviewed Indian films, go here: English, Español.

yammag-top-films-2014

Like we always do, the YAM Magazine team got together to vote for their favorite movies in a good ole’ Facebook poll in our secret group. We are so different and live so far away from each other that our choices vary so much, making the list alive. Of course there are movies I wish were lower, and others that were higher… but, all in all, it’s a good varied list for everyone to discover a new title.

So~ do your thing.