Tuesday, November 27, 2012

“LIFE OF PI” MOVIE REVIEW. Overcoming FEAR in a SEA of PERILS.

Sitting precariously on the edge of this dinghy during a killer storm, would you be able to flail your arms like this?

Serenity along the line of poetic justice ….

Dauntless on this raft ….

Overcoming the odds with this carnivorous beast

When the sea is calm, all I have to do is wait and dream ….

When you embrace 3 religions at the same time, which GOD would you holler for help?

Help me GOD, save me … I don’t wanna die!

Nightfall brings forth a deathly calm

(Snarl …) Don’t mess with me even though I am digitally enhanced

“LIFE OF PI” PRESS PREVIEW

“LIFE OF PI” is a beautifully crafted film, basked among other attributes.

It is a celluloid platform that demonstrates the resilence of the human spirit in the face of  near death where you’ve to fight for your survival.

What’d you have done to stay alive in any circumstances?

In the wake of massive media fanfare, this film is a fantasy romp that had already enjoyed a successful worldwide pre-publicity blitz.

The global media always has a divine way in drumming whatever justifiable publicity, and in this case critics have been kind towards this special effects fantasy.

With a whopping production value of USD 100 million, “LIFE OF PI” deserves the generous buzz that’s propelling it all the way to the moon, only the cinema goer can go figure and adds on.

The making of PI has stretched the limits of 3D stereoscopic technology.

One decade ago, it would have been virtually impossible to accomplish this feat.

Then there were technological limitations and animation arts have yet to be fully developed.

Research and money over time have broken down barriers and now the creative applications of  improved visual effects have deepened the film’s sense of purpose and worth.

Adapted from YANN MARTEL’s popular novel, the film pins a 16 year old Indian boy PI’s plight (SURAJ SHARMA) who’s lost at sea for 227 days.

The ship he has boarded along with the animals his family brought along to begin a new life in Canada capsizes during a violent storm.

Everyone perishes with the exception of PI and he ends up in a 26 ft life boat together with an unwanted assembly of an  orang utan, a zebra, a hyena and a Bengal tiger named  Richard Parker. In due course, all the wild animals become fodder for the Bengal tiger. Only Pi remains.

In order to stay alive, he has first to taunt the animal, to feed it with fishes from the ocean and to train it to understand and obey orders.

Richard Parker is a digital creation, it’s perfection at its best, a remarkably rendered computer animal that has been seamlessly blended into the live action.

The 3D imagery is breathlessly stupendous, drawing viewers deeper into PI’s world so that the illusion of depth becomes essential to the story.

With film director ANG LEE, you open his door and step right into the heart stomping visual feast he wants you to see.

“LIFE OF PI” purports to be an glorious insight on faith as PI embraces three religions (Christianity, Hinduism and Islam) at the same time, but it does not work based on the rules and conflicts of those religions. The days in the ocean has seen PI  transformed from being an impressionistic youth to a mature man. You can feel his searing loneliness, his confidence lost and faith restored eventually for life to move on.

God works in mysterious ways.

PI played by SURAJ SHARMA was an unknown face in India until “LIFE OF PI” and is now achieving leading man status. He is ably supported by veterans like IRRFAN KHAN, RAFE SPALL, ADIL HUSSAIN and TABU.

 Cinematographer CLAUDIO MIRANDA does a splendid job in capturing all manner of wild delights that beguiles and bedazzles the aesthetic sense.

“LIFE OF PI” is a brilliant and mesmerizing work of art from storytelling director ANG LEE.

It’s an immensely enjoyable film, so don’t miss it for the world!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

“The TWILIGHT Saga: BREAKING DAWN PART 2: the Movie. When DAWN breaks, DUSK takes over.

“The TWILIGHT Saga: BREAKING DAWN Part 2″ PRESS PREVIEW

Finally, the LAST instalment of the TWILIGHT saga is here, all in good measure.

And it has arrived at a jolly good time too, to bid adieu as all good things must come to an end.

The series that has earned the three young leads (Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner) millions of bucks, will meander into a lack-luster vehicle should it continue, suffocating from a dearth of fresh ideas.

Saving the last for  best, this film offers a taut storyline, loads of vampire slaying action with heads rolling, peaking to one justifiable finish.

The sex scenes between Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart sizzle. The acting is emotively better. And, for once, a “Twilight” delivers heart stomping action and stupendous special effects.

Many critics will hail that Breaking Dawn – Part 2 has been repackaged to ensure more entertainment value, and will go down on record as the best TWILIGHT film adaptation.

At curtain call you can be your own judge.

It was noted that there were more gals than guys in attendance at the press preview.

So you can witness that the core fan base comprises mostly of fluttering female hearts.

With two pretty boy hunks and one sweet damsel in tow, the “eye candy” formula works well here.

In this fifth and final Bella-and-Edward fantasy-romance,  our female lead’s persona adopts a dramatic transformation.

She is all at once, a ferocious member of the undead, participating in relentless vampire killing, vampire sex and screaming vampire battle cries.

Bella Swan Cullen (Kristen Stewart) is no longer the hapless lady who’s totally dependent on her one-expression partner Edward (Robert Pattinson) and the shirtless Jacob (Taylor Lautner).

She is now a vampire in her own right and the protective mother of Renesmee.

She has to reckon about the child’s fate, as she is seen as a threat to a bunch of vampires led by Aro (Michael Sheen).

Everything evolves around her and she’s the very reason the vampire war erupted.

The end result is a tense showdown, with vampires and wolves squaring off against the small army of Volturi.

A finale befitting for the fans with a focused story, extravagant production values and a broader audience appeal.

Right.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

A WRITER'S LOT

THIS IS ABOUT A WRITER’S LOT.

True.

You get this ailment called a WRITER’S BLOCK, now and then.

But the end result can be exhilarating, if you persevere.

I WRITE, therefore I AM.

I would not want it any other way.

For sure.

Friday, November 16, 2012

IF you are YOUNGER THAN SPRINGTIME, then you are the YOUNG ONE.


“YOU ARE YOUNGER THAN SPRINGTIME.”

We are re-visiting this vintage article that was originally written for this blog in August 2008.

This is an unabridged version, nothing has been altered.

4 years have passed, time has flown.

Everybody has grown a teeny bit older.

All of us will grow old in the years to come. Time and youth do not stay still for you.

Reach out for the joy and the sorrow.  Put them away in your mind.

Memories are time that you borrow to spend when you get to tomorrow.

There’s this lovely gushy song that pays homage to BEAUTY and YOUTH and it’s this romantic ballad:

“YOUNGER THAN SPRINGTIME, are you,

SOFTER than starlight, are you,

Warmer than the winds of June,

And the gentle lips you gave me,

Gayer than laughter, are you,

Sweeter than music, are you,

Angel and lover, heaven and earth,

ARE YOU TO ME.”

Let’s get it right here, folks.

EVERYBODY KNOWS IT’S GREAT TO BE YOUNG.

Even our dear friends, the manipulating product manufacturers understand this “captive youth market” given the fact that umpteen items are flooding the market ever-so-often to nap the unsuspecting egoistic buyer.

Note the influx of mobile phones that are being “churned” out these days with the latest gadgets. Mobile phones are now positioned asFASHION STATEMENTS rather that instruments of utility. Right?

The psychological factor here is, it’s easier to cajole the youth to part with his dollar because he thinks with his heart and not his head. Mostly.

But for how long can anyone maintain his youth?

Life often has it twists.

We often do not live in the “moment”, but plod hard and worry about the materialistic future, hoping for the day that we would be achieving our first hundreds of million of dollars, thereby ensuring our goal to social security.

But everything has a choice.

And with that CHOICE, comes a PRICE.

The passing of youth is something we can never regain again.

Ever.

TIME AND TIDE wait for no man.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

But can the same be said when we lose that “spring”?

Younger than spring time?

What price beauty?

Is the same eye candy good enough to be eaten many years later when your looks are waning?

The pictures of these glowing STARS here are currently in their 20s, shrouded as the “epitomes” of virtual beauty and finesse, currently enjoying youth at its prime, and all all goodies that money can ever buy.

Let’s live the good life before we get whacked, yah?

Film stars are derived from an odd species that are not only peculiar, but often very paradoxical.

They toil for years to be recognized and idolized, but when fame beckons and their private lives are torn into tethers by the paparazzi, they then adorn caps and sunglasses to shield them from the public glare.

Then they start deriding the media people whose support has put them on the fast track of success. So much for gratitude!

Stars are often the ones who “adorn masks”, live the REEL life, and harbour grand ambitions and devious inclinations, to protect themselves, in this competitive world of “swimming with the sharks”.

If you are an established producer or super agent and can garner them with a plum role, you therefore have a “utility” and they are more than likely to stick to you like honey.

But if you are just a normal Joe, then spending time with you has to be justified.

Like your best friend’s star is rising in tinsel town, a “wistful” place where absurdities and pitfalls prevail, so there’s only one thing to do: join the bandwagon or entourage.

Be the follower, not the leader, ehhh…

If you like evergreens, then CLIFF RICHARD‘s famous hit best sums it all:

“THE YOUNG ONES,

Darling, we’re the YOUNG ONES,

And the YOUNG ONES

shouldn’t be afraid

To give love

While the flame is strong,

CAUSE WE MAY NOT BE THE YOUNG ONES

very long.”

Cliff Richard sang that song in 1961.

It’s year 2008 now, folks.

TIME FLIES.

Reality bites, right?

It sucks prime time, man!!

Now listen to CLIFF RICHARD’s sentimental hit “THE YOUNG ONES” from his 1960s MUSICAL MOVIE of the same name.

Such a pity they don’t do breezy feel-good musicals like this anymore.