Category: Misc.

  • Kangana and Irrfan for The Film Companion’s Meeting Ground

    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 ;)

  • Work it, Tabu! Work those shoes~

    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.

  • From the Vault: Puffy 膨風嫂 – Have No Husband

    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.

  • Bollywood’s Modern 90s Throwback with Dum Laga Ke Haisha

    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.

  • Sushmita Sen for Nirbaak Poster

    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!

    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.

  • The Show-Off Film Collection List~

    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.

  • 350 Film Reviews and 30 Indian Film Reviews Later~

    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.

  • YAM’s Film Choices of 2014

    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.

  • Tabu~ Outgrowing Indian Cinema

    tabu-shahid-haider

    Of course I’ve managed to watched Haider already. Three times. Over the weekend. In a month, I see it topping my list of favorites this 2014. Anyway~ there is a wonderful wordy article on Tabu by Raja Sen — titled The Stunning Actress Who Dared to Age, Seduce Her Son— and Confound Bollywood — where he sings praises left and right of Tabu’s latest performance [which has, in fact, trumped all her performances], and talks about her most (critically and commercially successful) notable roles.

    In other news, it’s unlikely Rajeev Masand will take off the geo-block on his YouTube account, but the Actress Roundtable [1] is available on the IBN website. It’s got some very good moments, despite the Me, Me, Me, It’s All About Me attitude certain someone displayed. I was amazed. I always expect it, but this is taking it to a whole new level. LOL