Saturday, June 19, 2004

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban....sucks! It is so really boring and I felt like it was a desperate attempt to make a fusion of Momento, Pulp Fiction and all the other movies which go rewind! I guess they wanted to make the movie interesting by putitng in the time factor, but magic wands, wizards and time rewind kind of do not mix that well!! Overall it is 5 bucks down the drain!

UPDATE: I agree reading the book is definitely better than seeing the movie. I haven't read any of the Harry Potter books (but then one is not supposed to read books and then see a movie). My comments are on making of the movie(not the book) It is just so loosely made, one can guess they dropped out a lot of things. The movie gives out crucial clues at the wrong moments (I guess its not the same in the book) The plot becomes fairly clear when Ron asks Hermoine how she can be in 2 classes at the same time. And then they have this desperate attempt to push the audience to believe that it was Harry's father who reappeared to save him. Also, now we all know that its a movie about magic wands and powers then why do they have to emphasize so much on the teachers waving their wands to do their daily chores..(Snapes waving his wand to close the windows of the class rooms, Lupin waving his wand to open and close the doors of his cabinets!! C'mon everybody knows that a wand can do that!!

Creative/Plus points: Marauders Map, Hermoine's idea of time travel, the Dementors and the Petronas Charm, The Hippogriff, Sirius' wanted poster, and above all the Snitch!! I found Ron's acting better than Harry's!

Let Downs: The 'Scary' Warewolf, Snapes and Lupin confrontation when Harry is with the map, Daniel's acting as Harry, the show-off of wand power.

On the whole I think the length of the movie was not enough to cover the story...something like a travel suitcase packed up in haste and most of the things jutting out from all sides. I saw the first 2 Harry Potter films and enjoyed them thoroughly. But I guess the Law of Diminishing Returns holds true at some stage or the other!!

Also saw The Terminal, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Steven Speilberg. It is a nice story that has a 'Nukkad' type of touch. Catherine Zeta Jones is charming as always and Tom Hanks' acting as a foreigner who doesn't know English is superb.

   [ posted by PseudoFreud @ 10:11 AM ] [ | ]

   Tuesday, June 15, 2004  

UPDATE on FILMI FLAME!!

Just read on the TOI, The Indian Olympic Assoc. (IOA) organized the function without the consultation of the Sports Ministry...IOA is an autonomous body and does not need to consult the sports ministry. I initially thought that all this was the idea of some political block-head (did not know that Sunil Dutt was the sports minister) but now I am really amused and disgusted that it was the idea of the IOA!!! Probably Sunil Dutt would have done something sensible, though I am not sure. But definitely surprised at IOA's decision.

More here

   [ posted by PseudoFreud @ 12:23 PM ] [ | ]

---

   Friday, June 11, 2004  

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE....

After the Olympic flame had been carried by 'Who-is- Who's' flame and 'Who's Who' of the Sports World, here are a few points on the lighter side:

# 1. ROSES INSTEAD OF BRICK BATS.....Hum bhi ab Mantri huuu, Paaaavar me huuuu!!

Somebody celebrated his 56th birthday, and God knows what got into him, a couple of days earlier on his way back to Patna from Delhi by train, he made surprise visits to the calm, lazy-laid back stations on the way including the Delhi station and suspended officials for not bieng in their place and doing their work. He now has also introduced 'Kulhads' or earthern cups at canteen stalls on railway stations including Mumbai and they seemed to have become an instant hit, the only worry being, they should not be reused again and again. By the way this picture reminds me of the Bollywood actor Sadashiv Amraopurkar who used to play real sinister roles of corrupt politicians trying to rape innocent girls and ladies. I guess that was much before Laloo appeared on the scene, but the get up was similar....lot of hair on the ear pinnae (due to the dominant Holandric gene :)), the peculiar hair style (probably a trade mark of Bihar) and the typical 'banian' (vest) that he is wearing.

#2. Whooaahhh!! Is This Perestroika??


Any guesses?? Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and Bianca Jagger, ex-wife of Mick Jagger greeting each other at the 'Women's World Awards' in Hamburg, Germany!! Pretty neat Uhhh???

#3. CULTURE POLICE...

Then again our Ace Culture Bull-Dog, Mr. Pramod Navalkar (pardon my comparison) created a stir in the Legislative Council when he pulled out a gelatin stick, a detonator and a timer from his bag and demonstrated how easy it was to assemble a bomb and flaunted a liquor permit issued in the name of our late, Honorable Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. Chief minister 'Shushil' Kumar Shinde was on the verge of becoming 'A-Sushil' and was totally red with embarassment. The Bull Dog surely knows his ways!!

#4. A Thanks-giving note in the Times of India Personals section says

~ I hope St. Jude got the message!! :-))

#5. And finally....A 65,000 dollar question!



WILL THEY or WON'T THEY??? And if you answer it right....I am not the sponsor ;-) But anyways she is so amazing!!


Current Music : Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) :: Jimi Hendrix :: Blue Wild Angel [DVD & 2 CDS] Disc 2

   [ posted by PseudoFreud @ 12:20 PM ] [ | ]

---

   Thursday, June 10, 2004  

THE JISM CARRIES THE FLAME!!



I remember the short national integration film that used to come on TV a long time back (before Mile Sur Mera Tumhara was released)....when all the various sports personalities used to carry the mashaal (torch) in the rains. This is just ridiculous....first it was politics and now its sports!! More here: Black Day for Indian sports

UPDATE: The above post was the sportsman in Pseudofreud shouting out early in the morning after a jog....personally I am always happy to see Bips with flame...without flame....whatever JISM-istic avtaar that she is available....!! :)))


Current Music: Kya Se Kya Ho Gaya :: Mohd Rafi :: Guide

   [ posted by PseudoFreud @ 10:42 AM ] [ | ]

---

   Wednesday, June 09, 2004  

A Rainy Day...



Its been raining pretty hard for the last couple of days...but today was just amazing...This is how it was at 3.30pm today. An excellent respite from the summer heat!! Also the best time to snuggle up in the library and read a novel. By the way I am not someone who reads novels regularly but this one which I am currently reading has really grasped me completely. Among the other few that I really liked are The Godfather, We The Living and The Fountain Head (Ayn Rand), The Third Twin (Ken Follett). And now its the Da Vinci code that I am reading!! It is just so gripping....excellent!!

   [ posted by PseudoFreud @ 10:54 PM ] [ | ]

---

   Wednesday, June 02, 2004  

BORED AT WORK ??? WANT SOME RECREATION???

~~~~PLAY SOME GAMES~~~~

Check this out: http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/

It has some small cool games. What I like most here is the music and the graphics.....the graphics are very neat and the music is impressive. All in such small size games. You might probably need Flash player on your comp running. The ones that I like most are Runaway Train, Cranky Crabs, Bubble Bees, and Arctic Blue. Have your pick, there are a whole lot of them !

Current Music :Cherry Blossom Girl :: Air :: Talkie Walkie Disc 1

   [ posted by PseudoFreud @ 9:06 AM ] [ | ]

---

 

SOME REVELATION..

LATEST STATEMENT.......just heard it on 'Today' on NBC

"I'm sure there's going to be more violence...(pause)....because there are violent people......(pause).....who want to stop progress!"

That is definitely quite some revelation that somebody's felt had early in the morning! Hah Hah Hah Hah!!

   [ posted by PseudoFreud @ 7:10 AM ] [ | ]

---

 

Tomorrow on Discovery....

Just heard it on TV, there is an episode on the Discovery Channel regarding outsourcing of jobs to India and how it is changing the Indian and the American economy. The anchor is somebody called Friedman who travelled to India to see the changes taking place. Tomorrow at 8pm (probably EST) Check the schedule...for confirmation

UPDATE: More information regarding Friedman and the airing of the programme can be found at this post.

http://www.livejournal.com/community/bangalore/93864.html

   [ posted by PseudoFreud @ 6:56 AM ] [ | ]

---