Ice-skaters Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov did a rendition of Nagada Sang Dhol [clip] in their ice-skating routine (which, apparently, won them a gold medal) that made me want to watch Devdas on Ice~~~ or specifically Dola Re Dola on Ice because I’m like that!
As you know~ Russia is big on the ice-skating events, even more so than the Koreans (who had the reality Kim Yu-na’s Kiss & Cry[1]), the Japanese who broadcast ice-skating competitions quite regularly throughout the year, and the Americans (the other day I caught a broadcast of Musselman’s Apple Sauce Family Skating Tribute on ESPN).
You probably know I’m excited for Abhishek Kapoor’s Fitoor, of course, mainly because of Tabu xD but also because of the whole tortured emo broken-heart soul of the story. Plus, it’s Amit Trivedi’s music. I was (and usually always am) less excited about the leads… even less with Katrina “I can’ts but I tries” Kaif. Like- I don’t even know why I sat down to watch Phantom, because that’s hilarious.
But I’m always surprise to hear people saying that Katrina sucks at dancing… because I’ve never seen that. I think the first time I saw her was in YRF’s Jab Tak Hai Jaan, and — okay, I was mostly in love with Saans [clip] because that’s a damn good sexy song. LOL — but I don’t remember her sucking in the Ishq Shava [clip] number at all. In fact, I remember I actually said she wasn’t a bad dancer.
And I know everyone EVERYONE loves to hate and hates to love Sheila Ki Jawani [clip], but it appears on so many movies I’ve come to accept its catchy qualities despite movie and content. And even then when it appears people say she’s not a good dancer, she dances alright.My Kaif knowledge ain’t extensive, but even in Dhoom 3 [Kamli][Dhoom Machale Dhoom], she does totally fine. I can’t picture her at all doing Indian dance, but she totally nails modern and contemporary.
They looked pretty good doing this. Who choreographed it?
The journey, you guys, the journey is two-and-a-half years old [1][2][3][4][5] already and counting. I’m no longer tracking what I’m watching because it got way too complicated. And though the number of Indian films I get to watch is minuscule to the actual output; at 38 films this year (of 203), it’s the most I’ve seen in a year. It’s almost one movie a week (!!) and it almost reaches my mark of 46 (of 274) of last year. And it totally surpasses my 33 mark in 2013 when I started it all.
*Note:Though 113 films (over 55% of the list) is English-based, not all of them are Hollywood movies. The number also considers UK, Canadian, Irish and Australian productions and some other mix-and-match co-productions.
Of course, I’m way more comfortable navigating mainstream Hindi cinema than I am Tamil or other industries. But Anupama Chopra has just released her video of the Best and Worst of Hindi Cinema in 2015, so I got inspired to have my own segregated list. xD
Merry Christmas, everyone! I spent all day listening to Xmas music xD
During this year’s family dinner, I made a decision on my New Year resolution- I bow to try to not be a moral superior asshole in discussions. And I kowtow to those I had ugly discussions with (if any), if I ever made you scream at your screen- I’m sorry. I had an ugly discussion about food! FOOD! A discussion on food got ugly! LOL It was like being on an internet forum, and I kept feeding the troll. I’m sorry.
Anyway~
Today I decided to not stress over my End of the Year list any longer, so I finally published my list of Favorite Films of 2015~
I managed to get 195, without counting the films that I didn’t rank because I don’t rate certain documentaries. I managed to squeeze in Carol, The Revenant, and Spotlight… which did almost crack my Top10 Films in English. I wonder if I hadn’t post the list, if it would’ve placed differently.
Oh, that also means that, just like my movie collection, I’ve segregated my lists by languages. There’s a general list, but also included lists for films in English, Chinese/Mandarin, Indian, Latino and Miscellaneous languages, which includes all languages that I didn’t watch enough films for a proper Top10.
Love this commercial… I could totally sit through this a couple of times if I saw it on TV. lol
I like the design of the watch a lot better than the Apple Watch, which seems kinda chunky and calls too much attention. But still shrugged at the fact that you need a smartphone to set it up.
I ran into this clip of what seems a rehearsal of Yevgeny Mironov and Chulpan Khamatova dancing for the sequences of The Puppet Syndrome. If you do get a chance, do check it out.
They do have indeedy a song called Warm Hole (웜홀, womhol), which everyone’s trying to pretend it’s Wormhole. Considering the song, I wonder how that was gonna fly on a ‘live’ performance, but they did.
The only minus? Lipsync. I’m sure they can come up with a way that JeA doesn’t have to do a choreography and just focus on the vocals, no? Music Core performance of Hot Shot, anyone? She was even great with the Sixth Sense bit. Nothing tops that Music Core performance. Legendary.
Anyone who’ve seen both Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 1996 directorial debut Khamoshi: The Musical (Silence: The Musical) and last year’s Belgian-French La Famille Bélier -by Eric Lartigau- can spot the similarities between the two (as well as the 1996 German film Beyond Silence (Jenseits der Stille) by Caroline Link). You can even spot the similar plot points by either reading the outline or watching the trailer.
In the pivotal emotional punch of the movie, the daughter (played by Manisha Koirala and Louane Emera respectively) auditions to the coveted singing position, when her (deaf) parents -who had been against the idea- show up to see their daughter perform both vocally and in sign language. Koirala (voiced by playback singer Kavita Krishnamurthy) doing Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hain (This Heart Is Listening), and Emera singing Je Vole (I Fly).
Though Lartigau’s more modern take is much more musically accessible (let’s be honest, the film starts out with 2008 staple That’s Not My Name [1]), it’s also lighter. Bhansali’s story focuses a big chunk of his running time to tell the story of Manisha’s parents, also incredibly played by Nana Patekar and Seema Biswas, their struggle to raise a (hearing) child in near poverty levels, to the point that Patekar goes door to door with his daughter to make a living selling things.
Of course, both also have a love interest, and both Salman and Ilian Bergala are the weakest link.
I, of course, also ended up finally watching Peter Chan’s Perhaps Love (如果·爱), which is China’s -possibly- only formal foray into the musical genre. They were probably so into Moulin Rouge! and Chicago at some point, they got Farah Khan to whip some of her Bollywood 90s magic. You can see all the influences.
But, of course, Chinese people don’t believe in happy endings… even in musicals! Farah Khan probably watched this and was bored out of her mind because she probably doesn’t get us tortured East Asian souls. I did buy into all the grown-up lamenting love story.
To misquote Ron- I want to suffer, but I want to be happy about it.
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.
