Blog moved to Wordpress!

Folks i have moved my blog to Wordpress, given its simpler and more user friendly interface!

http://mymindanolanmovie.wordpress.com/

I hope you guys can show the same support there, as you did here!

Thanks guys!

Comic Strip - "What goes around..comes around!"

 

How many times have you slammed that Cosco ball on the wall? What if it decides to do the same to you?

Poetic right? :)

Leave your thoughts below!

Hachiko : A Story to be shared!

 

What can i say? I just finished watching a very beautiful and heart wrenching movie  about a dog's unwavering faithfulness to its master and a master's unconditional love for his dog. It is one of those rarest of rare movies that makes one shed some (actually a lot!) of tears.

I'm talking about the 2009 Hollywood adaptation of the 1987 Japanese movie of the same name - Hachiko - A Dog's Tale. So what is the story about you ask? An Akita pup (Japanese breed i think) is sent from Japan to America and on reaching a train station in America, its cage falls from the trolley. After squeezing its way through the broken wooden cage, it scampers here and there until IT FINDS its master for the years to come. Parker Wilson (Richard Gere). I tell you, if there is a man who brings so much complexity and soul to a character, it has to be him. (He is 63 for god's sake! yet as dashing as a handsome youth can be) Coming back, from there on, Parker and Hachi (the Akita pup) form a bond so strong that they become inseparable (The dog is extremely cute by the way!)

I'm not exactly reviewing the movie, but i would definitely leave the movie experience to you folks. To give away the central plot would probably ruin the emotional moments, which are best savored when one watches without a clue about what is to happen next.

I robustly recommend all you dog lovers/owners (i have never owned a dog, but i've recently taken great affection to a beagle named "Google") to see this movie without fail. It will move you. It will inspire you. Just as it inspired and touched me. Eternal love is not restricted to humans only, you know.

If you saw the movie after reading this, or if you have already seen it, leave your thoughts below!



(P.S The 1987 Japanese movie was based on a true story. Just type Hachiko, Shibuya AFTER you see the movie)

I'll Be There For You!

Ok ok, so i'am a day late! So what? One doesn't need an occasion to express one's gratitude towards one's greatest gift of all !

F.R.I.E.N.D.S (No not the Sitcom)

And so facebook, twitter and other socnet sites were flooded with friendship day cards, sentimental quotes, nostalgia, and other bla! Looking at all those status updates made one thing very clear. Of all the relationships that man has (excluding parents), friends make the most impact on that person's life.

When we attended school, we spent 40%, No. Scratch that. 60% of our daily awake-time with these soon-to-be best friends. Some stick together right until their under graduation and some even beyond that. Nevertheless, the time spent with them extends far more than the time spent with anyone else. That's pretty amazing isn't it??

You guys rock!!

As you grew, so did they. With you. Beside you. Caring and supporting and providing a great sense of camaraderie. Just pause for a moment and think about it. The revelation is overwhelming. We are born at different places, at different times and at different situations. Yet, when you start to enjoy the simplest of conversations with the stranger you just met, you know for sure that you are meant to be best buddies!

Ofcourse, not everyone stays. Some leave. Some enter. Some change our lives forever. And there my friend, lies its beauty. Unrelated by blood, unrelated by religion and unrelated by caste or other forms of discrimination, the bond is secular.

So what i wish to say is this! You, my friend !! I'm truly blessed and grateful to have you as my friend because there is none like you!

I'll be there for you! :)

The Hero We Needed !

M. I . N. D. B. L. O. W. I. N. G

Nothing Less. Nothing More. An excruciatingly painful wait post the insanely awesome performance by Joker in The Dark Knight has finally borne fruit - The Dark Knight Rises!

Every single Batman fanatic and every single functioning press in the world have already put out rave reviews and in-depth analyses of this masterpiece of a movie. With very few  IMAX theaters in my country, it was either travel 390 miles by train to Prasads IMAX, Hyderabad or settle for our local favorite Sathyam Cinemas with its powerful yet smaller screen. Nope. Nada. Never. A movie of such scale and grandeur needs to be seen on the format for which it was exclusively made. And my god!! What an experience it was!

There are many scenes when one feels like one is Bruce Wayne and feels the need to take the tumbler and save the distressed citizens! That's the power of IMAX! With 72 minutes of IMAX footage, i dare you to say "Nah that wasn't impressive" I DARE YOU ! :)

Yes, we all know that this is Batman's return to a bleaker and more gloomy Gotham City and that Batman has finally met his match - aka Bane (Tom Hardy i salute you!). But is that all is this about? No! Christopher Nolan's movies always have a human connect, the emotional strings tugging your heart and exquisite moments that leave a satisfying taste and keep you pondering about them many days after the movie!

The Dark Knight Rises does all that and more! Batman Begins was revolutionary cinema in its own right. Nolan had done something unheard of. He took a superhero franchise that was treated as a cheesy and twisted plot with no real meaning or purpose, and made it into something more entirely. He made it a Legend. And How !!

Batman Begins was about Bruce Wayne, coming to terms with his fears and violent emotions and discovering that his purpose in Gotham City was much more than providing resources to the poor. The death of his parents consuming him with anger ultimately makes him be a part of the very underworld responsible for his parents death. With the help of Ras-Al-Ghul and the League of Shadows, he understands that he has to become a symbol. A symbol that strikes fear in the heart of the villains and that inspires the poor and the weak. At its core, the movie offered so much insight to the origins of Batman and immediately made us empathise with his fear and pain. Batman Begins was all about the transformation from a seething and stormy young man to a symbol that evokes awe and fear.

Epic Cave Scene (Batman Begins)

3 years later, the world met the likes of a dastardly Joker never before portrayed with such intensity and madness as Heath Ledger did (you are sorely missed!). The Dark Knight brought alive the age old clash between Batman and his most deadly arch nemesis - The Joker. Taking cinema and the Batman franchise to new heights, The Dark Knight blew us all away! Nolan with his trademark subtle touches to key characters (Two face) ensured that we understood that there are some people in this world who just want to watch the World burn. Brrrrrrrrrrr ! Freaky! But TDK wasn't about the Batman, it was about the Joker. The influence of "Batman - The Killing Joke" is visible throughout! A convincing plot, bullet proof screenplay, intense dialogues, spectacular live action, and a lifting sound score easily made this one of the best movies of the 21st Century. Period.

Oscar worthy scene! Brrrrrr

And when a third instalment was announced, speculations arose like never before! Who could be the next villain? How can anyone top the unmatched and unparalleled onscreen intensity portrayed by Heath Ledger? What could the plot be? Bla bla bla bla. That was the day the world lost its mind. Christopher Nolan is a household name now. Critics rose and took notice of this brilliant mind (Memento, Prestige and Inception) and acknowledged the fact that he had a herculean task in hand. But as we Nolan fans say, "In Nolan we trust!" He just can't go wrong! Never!

And so it was announced that the villain would be Bane played by Tom Hardy (see Warrior) and that Catwoman would be played by Anne Hatheway (Critics can eat their old shoes now). It was also announced that this would the epic conclusion of The Dark Knight Trilogy. But no! How could this be? Fans wanted him to keep churning Batman movies. But it was made clear that it had to end with one last hurrah!

Dey Shay Bah Sah Rah!

As said earlier, The Dark Knight Rises is brilliance personified. With a hulking villain who not only matches Batman mentally but also puts the strength of the Bat to the task. All those toe to toe fight sequences between Batman and Bane is pure adrenaline rush! And to finish it, Nolan neatly wraps up the loose ends and creates a sense of euphoria and nostalgia that made me wish the series would never end. The Dark Knight Rises is about Batman once again and more importantly about Bruce Wayne, his struggle to overcome his demons and his steel will to save the very people who have outlawed him.

Not Everything. Not Yet.

All in all, TDKR is an experience not to be missed! Put aside the minor flaws and you won't be disappointed! The Joker and Bane are two completely different kinds of villain. One is a insane, yet cunning mastermind. The other is a harbinger of doom and terror.

The climax alone would show why Nolan is a great film maker and screen play writer! (I'm not saying anything more!) Thank you Nolan brothers! Through you, we have seen and experienced depthful characters immortalised on the big screen! And thank you for showing this world that there is no audience for brain-dead and cheesy cinema!

Christopher Nolan, your not the hero we deserved, but the one we needed!

(Screen fades to black. Hans Zimmer's music booms)

Nolan Makes His Mark !

I cannot do justice to the 'Christopher Nolan's Die Hard Fan' tag if i don't talk about Nolan can i? And with great pleasure, i'm happy to share with you all that Christopher Nolan has been honored with a hand and footprint ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles! (see below)

(L - R) Anne Hathaway, Sir Michael Caine, Christopher Nolan and Joseph Gordon Lewitt -  Huffington Post

This officially makes Nolan part of the other legends of Hollywood right from the 1920s who made their handprints here!! So cool right?? What with The Dark Knight Rises around the corner and the anxious nail biting wait until then, this is truly a moment to rejoice for us Nolan fans!

Christian Bale (Batman), Morgan Freeman and the awesome Gary Oldman (See Leon the Professional) - Huffington Post

Frankly i've not seen any more than the first two official trailers of TDKR. I went in to see The Dark Knight with ZERO knowledge about the film's plot and characters, and man o man what a ride it was! Heath Ledger should have lived to see the impact he made through that film! Rumors are rife about a Batman Reboot in 2015, but wait. Seriously? After the awesome makeover by Nolan, can anyone else live up to the challenge? I personally don't think so.

Thank you Nolan for all the wonderful movies you have given us! Sans the typical mindless action and aimless plots (if any) that some (not all) of today's English movies have. It would have been awesome if you had opted to do a fourth batman movie just to amp the excitement quotient and for the sake of good cinema!

As a Batman fan, i really hope TDKR kicks ass !

And you who is reading this, Do NOT miss this movie for anything!!

When Shit Happens

Minding their business

It was God's creation. An abundant species. With a jet black body, eyes like white marbles and coupled with an incessant sound, it circles the high skies...watching...waiting...and preparing to strike at the opportune moment. Yes, you would have figured out by now that i'm referring to that nasty and vile creature: (No offence!)

THE CROW (caaw caaw, no not that horror movie)

Why so much angst you ask? Well, i'l have to rewind the clocks by 2 years to narrate this gooey story. (Alert! Do not read further if you do not like gross stuff and if your the Lord Labaku Das type!)

<<GOING BACK IN TIME>>

<<<March 2012..Zkkk Zkkk Zkkk.. -> November 2011..Zkkk Zkkk..-> January 2011..Zkkk Zkkk.. March 2010>>>

3 months into my first job, i was happy with the way things were turning out..And of course, being a lover of long distance biking, the journey from my home to my workplace was initially blissful. Why? Because i have a machine that loves me back as much as i love 'her'. The Yam R15. The bike and i are one you know.

Anyway, so as always i park my bike outside the office (duh) and go to work (duh). This was the routine for the last 3 months. And then it happened..straight out of a Night Shyamalan Movie. There is a huge bla-bla tree outside the office that spans across half the street with its terrifying bark and branches..it sways and creaks to the winds and gives a terrifying effect when it gets dark in the evening..BUT. Among those branches and leaves, i could feel a 100 eyes watching me, the electric tension making the strands of hair on my head stand up. And there it was. Or should i say, there they were. Perched on the branches in perfect battle formation, they blessed me with a holy darshan of their bottoms..Shock. Realisation. The enormity of it all !

They were getting ready to drop the BIG GUNS! The adrenaline rush was incredible, time slowed down, just as how the environment is blurred while aiming down a target, all i could see were the sinister beaks and ready-to-drop behinds of these crows. The scrawny one 20 feet above me drew first blood, and that was the moment that changed my entire life..!

In Slow-Mo, i saw the white/yellow/brown gooey substance making its way down - to me. Reflexes numbed, and with zero reaction time, SPLAT!!!! and LO, i was anointed in holy kaka pee (crow shit in Tamil). I swear i heard that sonofagun say "You want a piece of me punk?!"

Shaken by the attack, i prayed that the madness would stop. But no..the Others. They wanted to relieve some of the pent-up frustration too. And suddenly, 6 crows made a coordinated strike by trying to box me in a turtle formation and another 3 swooped down like B2 Bombers..! After all the chaos and after the poop splattering spree, i was shocked to see that my bike was completely bathed in fresh golden poop! and i was left with minimal damage to my shoulders and feet! AAARGHH!
The Black Beast (the bike) was now a dalmation dog!
Everyday, like clockwork the battalion of crows would do "Poop Visarjan/Pee Abhishegam" on my bike and i'l have to get down and dirty and clean the mess up! EVERY SINGLE DAY.

So what is the deal with these crows huh? Why is that they get such sadistic pleasures in defacing innocent humans, inanimate vehicles or those poor freedom fighters (the statues ofc)? And why is that these creatures sit on high altitude places and poop? Is it because they want to make an 'impact' ?! Would it hurt if they just sat on some wall or something and attended to their business?? Ah...alas i do not know the answers to these questions.

But i do know the reason why crows poop so much. That's because they eat like pigs! So this is what i presume is there on their daily menu: 

6.00 AM : Wake Up. Crow for some time.
7.00 AM : Meet up with some of my homies. Group crowing sessions begin. (Need the exercise)
8.00 AM : Fly to the nearest temple. Grab a bite of the holy offerings.
9.30 AM : Fly to Brahmin Household with homies. Eat into the carb rich ghee + pappu mammam (rice) left for us. (We crows are your ancestors you see)
10.45 AM : Fly to the nearest butcher shop. Dig into those delicious leftovers. Caaw Caaw (Yum Yum)
1.30 PM : Ah! is that a dead rat i see? Scavenging Time! Caaw Caaw (Double Yum)
3.30 PM : Fly to Corporation Dumpyard with more buddies. Ah this is the mother lode! Eat eat eat!
5.30 PM : Hmm, stomach rumbling, must loosen up bowels. Must find comfortable tree.
6.00 PM : <<Perched atop THE tree>>
6.15 PM : All homies get excited! Caaw Caaw Caaw (Look look! Jayanth's shiny bike! Lets have some fun boys!) Instructions from Group Leader <<SIT UPRIGHT>> <<POSITION BUM DIRECTLY PERPENDICULAR TO BIKE>> <<WHEN YOUR READY>> <<LET 'EM HAVE IT>> SWooooooosshh!! SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT!!
6.30 PM : Ahhh..whate relief. Lets scram boys.
6.45 PM : Jayanth leaves from work. Looks outside. Bile outburst. End of Story.

Yep, this is exactly what must be happening on a daily basis. Bottomline: Crows love to poop on unsuspecting people and objects.

And me? I have been diagnosed with severe Aerial Avian Coprophobia ! 

<<In the background, a dropping sound is heard..too late.SPLAT!>>

Damn you crow!!



P.S - Once again, a super duper ultra thanks to Sandhya Prabhat for the extremely awesome cartoon! This post is definitely incomplete without the pictorial support from her. (She will soon teach the existing gurus a thing or two in the future)

If you liked this post, just share or e-mail it to your friends!

To read my other post with Sandhya's cartoon, see A Place to Be Naked.

About Sandhya:

Sandhya Prabhat is from Chennai, India. She is a freelance illustrator and animator, and has finished her MFA in Animation and Digital Arts in NYU Tisch Asia School of the Arts, Singapore. She has a Bachelor's degree in English Literature from Stella Maris College, Chennai. She also enjoys reading, writing and appreciates good vegetarian food. She is currently utilising 100% of her brain for multiple projects for several clients. 

No, she does not have a blog yet but hopes to have one soon. 


She can be reached at sandhya.22@gmail.com

Invaded

 

Depressed. Shocked, Disgusted and Disturbed. These emotions are just mild expressions of what i'am really feeling. No this is not some stupid rant about my petty life. It's about Her. The common woman. And what about her you ask? She gets raped a 1000 times a day of course.

I'am not here to introduce you all to the phenomenon of rape. It's out there. Happening right now. Could be near your comfortable home or in some dark, dingy and cursed place in the middle of no-where. She is going through it. And some prick's sexual ego is being stroked.

If you too, have the unfortunate habit of reading Google News everyday, you would notice that more than the news about some scientific breakthrough made by some nameless sonofagun, there are more articles reporting the rape of a minor girl or an old aunty or some other sick perverted BS. So these are what i see on a normal, bright and sunny morning - articles peppered with the juices of journalistic creativity: (Courtesy - Our Media Hawks)

"15 Year old gang raped in broad daylight"
"2 teens gang raped by 15 men"
"23 Year old raped in a moving vehicle"
and so ffing on...

Ok so what's so outlandish about such incidents you may wonder..some sickos may even talk about karma, that these women actually deserved it! Out of some sick and twisted ideology! Can you believe it? Go and read the comments made by our junta and you will understand.

A recent article i read shocked the bejesus out me. So this is what happened.. 2 teenagers who were being raped in some desolate place by 10 men, cried out for help repeatedly and a few workers from the nearby fields heard the commotion and arrived at the place. And guess what happened next? They joined in the act too! I was so disgusted and overwhelmed with the monstrosity of the heinous act, that i couldn't fathom the gravity of the incident completely. Yes, this is what is happening these days. Gang rapes seem to be the new fad.

It is possible that the rape rate was always the same, and the fact that these incidents are being disclosed to the public may be due to women choosing to make a stand, rather than hide in their centuries old womb of fear. Or it is possible that there are infact more number of rapes happening across the country.

End of the day, i just cannot understand or digest these acts of evil. Don't they have sisters or mothers? Would they rape their own kin? How could they? We are pagans..worshippers of the elements..and more importantly, ours is the religion, where female deities take a prominent place. So what use is a Kali/Durga in this hellish world we live in?

I won't delve into what the government did or did not do to curb these incidents. No i am not talking for or against any existing punishments that are imposed on the convicted. All i am wondering/talking about is this..

If you had invaded the sacredness and dignity of a woman, then why are you not rotting in hell?

There is a saying in Tamizh..

"Arasan andru kolvan, Deivam nindru kollum"

Meaning - The Ruler/King gives justice then and there, but God will punish after some time.
Reality - The Ruler does not give instant justice and God does not care.

This is the sorry state of affairs. My sincere prayers and sympathies to all the affected, not only in India, but all over the World.

Wishing for a crime free world is perhaps Utopian and foolish..people like you and me are blessed. We have the power of democracy and here i am talking about a social evil and unable to take any sort of real action.

Bottom line, that's what we are. Powerless.

I bet my old socks Lord Krishna would be thinking right now.."i told you that Kaliyuga would be a bitch din't i ?!"

Amen to that.

Clooney's Sentinel

Ok so i'm in a serious mood..i usually avoid current affairs and typically blog on creative topics..But that doesn't mean i don't care about what happens in India or the other parts of the world..!

According to me there are two groups of humans in this world. The Lucky and the Not So Lucky. The Lucky ones (like me) get to live a tranquil life with simple issues such as power cuts, bad roads, corrupt officials etc peppered with the luxuries of life such as movies, food, etc. If 10 random people die in the hands of some random lunatics, it doesn't affect me. Nope. Maybe i would pity those poor souls. But that's just about it. What do we care? We live in our cocooned peaceful life don't we?

But the Not So Lucky ones, suffer. Not in the hands of the Devil. But in the hands of men who have lost their souls to greed, rage, violence and madness. Thousands die for no reason. Beaten, shunned and forced to flee, their lives like a Tight Rope Walk, with no clue about what they did to deserve such a fate. They are the ones that know what Death looks like because many a times, it comes knocking on their doors. Vulnerable and broken, hell must be a bed of roses for these poor sods.

This morning, while randomly absorbing my daily dose of gyaan, i stumbled on this news article from Global Post:

Clooney satellite project shows preparations for assault

At first glance, i couldn't make sense of it, George Clooney? Danny Ocean? What satellite project? Why him? an assault on who? These were the questions that flared in my mind. Filled with curiousity i dug deeper. What i read astonished me!

Before i enlighten you on Clooney's initiative, lets talk about the issue in focus. (in simple terms)

• What? : North & South Sudan have been at loggerheads since 1955.
• Why? : Oil reserves, ethnic clashes, southern rebels, grazing land, government negligence, arab-african showdown, division of South Sudan as separate country
• Conflict Areas ? : Abyei, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile
• Effect? : Darfur Genocide, Power Struggle over oil rich Abyei, dispute over South Sudan's independence, mass graves
• Peace Agreements? : Addis Ababa Agreement (1972), Comprehensive Peace Agreement (2005)
• Ok and? : More fighting, blood spilled, innocent lives lost, survivors turn refugees
• Uhuh? : South Sudan becomes Independent in 2011.

You get the point right? So where does our Descendants star step in you ask?

The Answer is a first-of-a-kind effort at peacekeeping and deterring mass atrocities and the resumption of war between Sudan (North) and South Sudan by combining a Eye-in-the-sky approach meets Proactive Action plan, which is:

 

George Clooney while visiting Sudan in Oct 2010 (4th time) initiated this project along with Enough Project co-founder, John Prendergast. What is really cool about this initiative is that it combines satellite imagery analysis and field reports with Google's Map Maker technology to detect signs of emergency or violence in the war torn regions of Sudan.

These satellites are able to capture possible threats to civilians, observe the movements of displaced people and also any signs of open military activity, detect razed villages and note other evidence of impending mass violence!

The project has been successful in detecting any human rights crimes even before they occur and has unearthed evidences of close to 8 mass graves in the South Kordofan region.

The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, runs the research, operational and technical aspects of the Satellite Sentinel Project. It is what they call the 'Crisis Mapping & Early Warning System'. Bloody awesome if you ask me..!

Mass Grave Sites (as captured by Satellite Sentinel)

George Clooney in Sudan (from TIME Photos)

Of course, there has been criticism from all quarters against George Clooney over his involvement in this sensitive issue, but nonetheless, that is what we are really good at aren't we? Stand on the greener side of the field and pelt stones at the ones who are actually doing something.

I guess this is just the beginning. I'd rather read and keep myself informed on such matters than read nonsensical articles on how our media has glorified the entry of a porn star in a reality show.

Perpetrators beware. Miles above, Clooney's Sentinel is Awake.

 

Neon Addiction

© Jayanth B Kashyap

A long time ago, when i had a lot of time to spare, i indulged in creating flashy and cool animated titles and videos for my own creative satisfaction..Andrew Kramer, the famous visual artist is my guru when it comes to vfx!

One of his tutorials involves creating a terminator-meets-tron style title effect, and so i decided that i will try it out too! (image above)

Although, the end product was not as spectacular as Andrew's, I'm still proud of it !

Each blog of mine (My Mind a Nolan Movie, Extreme Close Up and 576 Megapixels) incorporates a unique banner design carefully designed by me. But not all designs step out of the drawing board. This design was one of the many that i had created for my movie blog (Extreme Close Up)

Hope you like it too!

Cheers

He Rises

Cross Posting - Extreme Close Up

Hey all! Those of you, who have seen the Dark Knight Rises trailer in my previous post , would have definitely been wondering "What the heck was that chant all about!?"

Well, i came across ujam's site, where Hans Zimmer has actually invited people world over to lend their voice to this chant sitting from their homes! (Link)

And should i say, Hans Zimmer does it again! He blew me away with his powerful orchestra-mixed-with-synthesiser style music for movies such as The Rock, Broken Arrow,
Air Force One, Last Samurai, Inception, Batman Begins, Dark Knight and now he is back again for The Dark Knight Rises!

Just Play the video above and picturise Bane and Batman going toe-to-toe with each other! It is going to be epic!!

The Chant in the trailer is "Dey-Shay, Bah-sah-rah" It means, "He Rises"

How apt right??

I just cannot wait for 2012, because in Nolan i trust.

Cheers!

The Dark Knight Rises : A Storm Coming

Yaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy!!!!! Christopher Nolan is back!!! The Dark Knight is back!!

Im jumping up and down, somebody get a hold of me for god's sake!!

The highly anticipated trailer for the epic conclusion of the the most awesomest batman series directed by the awesome-est director and my favorite, Christopher Nolan is out and has set my pulse racing!

A Brutal Bane and a wicked Catwoman are all set to go head on against Batman/Bruce Wayne who is now 8 years older than the previous film!

Will batman triumph once again? How will Nolan end this epic trilogy? Will Bane really break the Bat's back!? O god dammit! i can't wait!!

One thing is for sure! I'am definitely going to Hyderabad to catch The Dark Knight Rises on IMAX babay!!

Watch the extremely enticing full trailer from the powerhouse that is Nolan!

The Dark Knight shall Rise!!

The Path of Ezio

Ok so i'am a BIG time Assassin's Creed fan! Even more, i'am totally crazy about Ezio Auditore, the Master Assassin of Firenze..For those who have played the 4 series game, you will relate to what i'am saying!

Last night, i was so bored that i just had to do something totally cool to lift my spirits! and so i flipped through the E3 trailers of Assassin's Creed 2, Brotherhood and Revelations..and suddenly i realised " what if i create a fan made video paying tribute to this immortal hero!?" And so the next 4 hours flew by..after several cuts and frustrating problems with the audio and video sync, i finally created a video that would make a non-gamer understand the chronicles of the life of Ezio Auditore!

This is the Path. The Path of Ezio.

Hope you like it! Share it with all your AC crazy friends if you'd like too :)

Cheers!

Live By The Creed

Cross Posting from my Photo Blog 576 Megapixels

 

Today, i bid farewell to one of the most memorable characters in videogame history and possibly the whole of film history too - The Master Assassin Ezio Auditore Da Firenze. Maybe this could be the first time, i actually feel 'attached' to a virtual character. I've traveled the whole of Venice, Rome and Constantinople with him and been introduced to his life and the other characters surrounding him.

Assassin's Creed Revelations, the last title to feature both the Great Altair and Ezio, made me wish the game series would never end. The non-gamers,  who have not played this beautiful game can never understand what this means. A brilliant plot, complex characters, huge and astounding cities, cinematic cuts, advanced gameplay with a healthy dose of suspense, mystery, love and action. It is a  story spread across a millenia that can be fully appreciated only by playing all 4 games in the series.

After having seen Assassin's Creed Embers, a 22 minute animated short film that neatly wraps up the life of Ezio, i can't help but  wonder what an amazing part these characters have played. Each word uttered by Ezio in his delightful italian accent, as he recounts his life as an assassin, deep in thoughts and the fear of losing his last and only chance of leading a normal life, Embers is a fitting finish to the life of Ezio Auditore.

Never have i reveled or raved about a mere video game before and i know that i never will.

Requescat in pace Ezio.  I shall miss you Mentor.

For Soup Boys-u Only !

Concept Design : Kolaveri Tee Shirt

Ok so EVERYONE, Southie, Northie, Japanese, American, European and other crazy nutters around the world (including me) are hooked to the song! All of us are so hooked that even Big B Sr, Big B Jr, Beti B,  why even oBama are mumbling "boysu, skinnu, cowu" and stuff!

And so, i thought how cool would it be if i had my own kolaveri tee!? You may think its the heights! But hey, come on! IT IS a rage. 10 Million views in 10 days is no mean feat! Thanks to every media channel, including MTV, V and our own social networks for making it so viral!

But i do have to admit that its a silly silly song! But i guess that's the simplicity of it! One doesn't have to analyse the complexity of the music as one usually does for an ARR song..Just play and enjoy! That's what it is!

So would i print this design for an actual tee? Maybe :)

Cheers!

Tintin : A Wild Fantasy Ride!

Cross Posting from Extreme Close Up

Great Snakes!!

Billions of Blue Blistering Barnacles !! Just got back from Sathyam, and still reeling from all the on-screen awesomeness that is "The Adventures of Tintin - The Secret of the Unicorn" !!

Where do i begin?? You know i've probably read all the Tintin comics atleast a 100 times! I was introduced to the world of Tintin at the tender age of 6 by my mother, and by god what an adventure it was! Be it "Tintin in Tibet" or "Explorers on the Moon", each and every Tintin comic WILL draw you to its world! Herge, the creator of the Tintin would have never anticipated the longevity and the influence Tintin had or has on the people of yesterday and today! My parents grew up reading it, i grew up reading it and so will my kids and their kids!

But, my favorites of all the 23 comics that have been published is "The Secret of the Unicorn" and "Red Rackham's Treasure" which has so beautifully been brought alive on the big screen.

What do we get when one of the greatest and pathbreaking filmmakers of all time and one of the best known comic characters of all time come together? We get this one helluva movie that will surely be remembered in the years to come for faithfully sticking to the original plot, yet craftfully narrated with an engaging screenplay backed by the industry's best motion capture techniques!

So what's all the hullabaloo you ask? Just imagine this. Tintin and the other characters look so bloody real you could actually mistake the movie as a movie with HUMANS. Visually stunning, Tintin would leave you crave for more, what with its spectacular sets and complex camerawork! You have to hand it to Steven Spielberg, even a simple comic book can be made on such a magnificent scale!!

I being a Tintin fan, am absolutely delighted! Commercial cinema can't get better than this! Action, Adventure, Humor and Awesomeness, what more can one ask?!

All the memorable characters, Snowy for instance draws the "awwws" , Captain Haddock entertains you with his bumbling demeanour, the Thompson Detectives with their idiotic antics and ofcourse, the crème de la crème, Tintin !! Smart, agile and one brave sonofagun! He will floor you!

The best scene would be the chase scene in Bhaggar! Tintin can sure teach a thing or two to Ezio (Assassins Creed) and Drake (Unchartered) about high flying stunts!!

Bottomline: It is the BEST animated movie i have EVER seen!

What i love about the film is that there is something fabulous in each frame! Be it the particle effect in Marlinspike Hall's Cellar or the Oasis in Bhaggar or Glass Shatter by Castafiore, it just makes you go AHHH!

I envy my IMAX counterparts..i was stunned by its impact on 70mm 3D, i can only dream how it would be on IMAX! I'd advise you to not miss this masterpiece, the effect is just not the same on DVD or on the computer! Period.

Well, i can't control my excitement for the second part in the series! Steven Spielberg and Percy Jackson are sure to surprise us!

As Haddock would say it, "My thirst for adventure is Unquenchable!"

So is Mine!

V for Vendetta : Freedom! Forever!

Cross Posting from Extreme Close Up

Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici

"Remember Remember, the fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason, why the Gunpowder Treason, should ever be Forgot"

I remember watching this movie when i was 16 years old..right about the same time the movie was released! And i could not understand head or tail of it! And now 5 years later..i decided to revisit this Wachowski Brothers product with hope that i would be blown away! And was i blown away or what!! Back then, i did not even know that the Protagonist of the movie was played by Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith of Matrix) and i must say, he is such a brilliant brilliant actor!


The Year is 2038, Britain has become a totalitarian society, run by fascist leaders. Just when everyone thought that the country had gone to the dogs, enter "V" , a freedom fighter with a stormy past, vowed to remind the people what it means to live for a cause!

A Guy Fawkes mask, 16 inch knives, Zorro like clothes, an addicting persona, some extremely cool martial arts moves, "V" is out to eradicate the vermin of the society. At first glance, you would expect a cheesy plot, with cheesier situations, typical to most super hero movies.. But this film, works because and only because, it tries not to be something it is not.

The film sets the Gunpowder Plot as V's inspiration, and having escaped a cruel past filled with torture and imprisonment, V spends 20 years preparing to take his vengeance on his enemies. A Vendetta.

But the most striking or important part of the film is the fact that we are not told anything about V as an individual, but rather the film dives into V being an embodiment of an idea! How deep is that huh? V does not have a identity or a face. All we get is an extremely convincing body language as when V speaks. Hugo Weaving's deep and sophisticated voice lends character and strength to the man behind the mask.

The Wachowskis gave us the path breaking Matrix Series and they do justice to "V" with both soul and spirit! The action sequences are nothing less than Jaw Dropping! Believe me, there is nothing sexier than "V" using his deadly knives to gracefully kill his oppressors! The final battle is so EPIC!

Natalie Portman as Evey somehow stumbles into V's life as she is saved by him during an attempted rape by the "Finger men" (secret police). As fate would have it, she is drawn into the enigmatic world of V and learns to face her fears with V as her mentor! No i'm not talking about a Karate Kid style training session!!

There are just so many things about the movie that i loved!! I just loved V's alliterative speech when he introduces himself to Evey, and you must see it too!! (Sorry there are no embeddable videos on YouTube for that scene!)

Be it the hard hitting flashback scenes, or the subtle emotions of "V", or the eventual relationship that Evey develops with a Man who has no face, or the buildup to the climax, V for Vendetta strikes on all chords for me! There are many who would classify this as an action movie and would shy it away! NO! Spare 2 hours and i assure you that you will not be disappointed!

In short, the movie is a masterpiece, extremely inspiring and at the end of it all, the movie by itself is more than a Guy Fawkes Mask, it is an idea.

As "V" would say it, Ideas are bullet-proof! "V for Vendetta" is solid bullet-proof!!

P.S: Watch the trailer, and you will want to see it instantly!!

X-Men - Point Between Rage and Serenity

This post is from my movie blog - Extreme Close Up. Do comment here/there if you liked it!

We Are the Better Men

Hey!! How's October treating you all?! I've had a hectic 30 days since my last post..but time just flew! I guess that's how relative time is!

You know, when i started this blog..i told myself i would not talk about any movie that hits the screen! I made a solemn oath that i would not be a movie reviewer, but id rather be a Extremely-Movie-Addicted-Junkie who would only rant about the movies that impressed/impacted me a lot!

X-Men First Class hit me with so much force, energy, adrenaline and excitement that i did a Banshee during every exciting scene in the movie! After having seen three disappointing X-Men films with the only shimmering light being Magneto and Wolverine, i wondered if any of the movie makers of today would get the Superhero concept right!

It is about presenting the characters onscreen and utilizing the limited time to bring out the best in each character! And Michael Vaughn (Kick Ass fame) has done just that! Be it Magneto (Michael Fassbender), Professor X (James McAvoy), Mystique (Jennifer), Shaw (Kevin Bacon) or any other character introduced as the first of the X-Men Clan, each person's emotions have been delved at satisfying levels..

I'am so blown away by the new Magneto and Prof X, that am already craving for a sequel!!

So what sets apart X-Men you ask? Just about EVERYTHING!!

Brilliant performances, jaw dropping action sequences, multitude of super powers and an intense plot! The extremeness between Erik Alias Magneto and Charles Alias Prof X is simply electric..James McAvoy as Prof X brings a new dimension to the character! Being a telepath has never been so cool!

Michael Fassbender as Magneto never ceases to amaze me with his performances (Watch Inglorious Basterds). Erik (Michael) born Jewish undergoes the cruelty of the Nazi Reich, separated from his parents, experimented upon,but with an awesome gift to generate magnetic fields, he is one person you do not want to mess with! Erik battling his own demons and haunted by his past is shown the path by Charles,thus harnessing his seemingly untapped power source,turning him into an unstoppable force!

Erik's character is dark, subsequently complemented by his rage and desire for revenge. While Charles is the suave, calm and practical person, who in the real sense has not been exposed to the world that Erik lived in. Together, they light the screen on fire!

X-Men is set against the backdrop of the Coldwar during the 1960's, the atmosphere just gets to you, be it the concentration camps, or the high voltage tension between two Super Powers, X-Men does it all!!

X-Men is a wonderful prequel as it REALLY sets the pace going! It is the legendary story of how two gifted persons became friends, and how certain events make them the worst of enemies forms the core of the film.

And being a lover of Movie Soundtracks and Epic Scores, the soundtracks "First Class" and "Sub Lift" go waayyy up my personal charts!! Henry Jackman! Beauty i say!!

My favorite scene hands down would be when Erik (Magneto) lifts the submarine from the depths of the ocean below using his magnetic powers. EPIC. JUST EPIC.

I've seen that scene atleast 23 times, and every time the feeling is the same.

INDESCRIBABLE..

As you watch the sub rise and the strained determination on Erik's face, you just can't help clapping your two hands and pumping your fist in the air! So much adrenaline i tell you!!

Go watch X-Men First Class. It WILL surprise you! Personally i think, its way ahead of Thor, Captain America, Green Lantern and every other Super Hero movie that has been released off late. X-Men has soul, it has a STORY, it has intensity, and most of all it has some awesome Mutants!!

As Charles would say it, Focus is between Rage and Serenity. and X-Men hits the spot right from the beginning!

That Someone..

Hey you all!..am not really in the fun fun mood! Am not here to narrate to you about the funny incident that happened to me..neither am i going to talk about something that i'd usually do..No... that's not it..More like the "gaze at the star, dreamy eyed, la-la land" mood...

You know, its 11.20 PM in Chennai, the time when usually i develop schemes to take over the world, BUT, it is not a scheme am thinking of..its raining heavily..the Gods seem to be celebrating..dancing..singing..and their joy flowing over all of us as i speak...

In situations such as these, i either get all nostalgic or i get all emotional..life has become such a rat race, that i never stopped, sat back and appreciated the finer aspects of life! You know!..and so...lost in the cool breeze that traversed hundreds of miles with the sole aim of pleasing me and the gentle, yet heavy pitter patter of the rains that sings a lullaby..i began thinking of...That Someone... although my mind strains to express a hundred different emotions, waiting to pop the cork..i am still lost for words..with whatever words i can think of...this is my ode to That Someone..

That Someone, who was always there
That Someone, who always cared
That Someone, oh who is full of love
That Someone, who is a beautiful dove
That Someone, who is all heart
That Someone, to whom i said "il never break apart"
That Someone, who stood by me
That Someone, who just has me
That Someone, who makes me smile
That Someone, who makes me cry

That Someone, who means the world to me

That Someone, who just hugged me
That Someone, who asked "what do you want?"

And i said.. "Just you my love"....

That Someone.......................................................

The Brain Button !

Hellooo...its an awesome Sunday evening, nothing to do but just sit back and reeelax..! Before you start wondering about what i have to say this time...am sorry to disappoint you that it won't be me doing the rambling today! Nope. Uh uh.

At the same time, am very happy to introduce to you all a very very close friend, who believes this:

"My idea of fun,
Is good conversation.
My drug of choice, my poison,
Is good conversation.
My mental peace, my salvation,
Is good conversation.
Love, I’m certain,
Is good conversation."

And the person who said it...is Meghna Kannan! At first glance, she comes across as a person full of energy and crazyness! An awesome artist, she lets her hands and words do the talking! And so the day before she left to France (last week), i said "Megz why don't you write on my blog?! and she was like "ummmmm..." After numerous attempts to convince her to write, she finally said "Ok Ju, i'm not really sure about this, il think about it!"

But am happy that she came around, and this is what she has to say....

..........................................................................................................

.....Sitting at Frankfurt airport is as good time as any to start working on my “guest” post on friend’s blog. I honestly have no intention of bragging about the fancy-ass airport, but this is the first thing I thought of doing to kill the 2 hrs time I’ve got till I catch my bus from here to my destination.

An Indian at an airport is always a peculiar sight to people here. I’m not generalizing our infamous habits of being the only one with 3 HUGE bags or our legendary white sneakers-blue jean style statement, not at all. We can be cool too. But I do generalize our quality of winning raised eyebrows, 2^nd looks and occasionally a jaw-dropped gawk.

So I perched myself on this sort of maroon marble blocks, randomly placed to form a seating area, which I swear is no different from our kitchen thinnai material, surrounded by coffee shops, a mobile charging port, money exchange counter, information desk, ATM, escalators starting and ending erratically from all directions and directly across the exit gate from where I catch my bus. I started off by being just some regular colourful-attired person sitting there until my Indian-ness started crawling into me. There’s only so much I can sit with my legs dangling before which my legs automatically fold into a chaplaankuti.

And then of course this is followed by the very scrupulous procedure of finding that comfort zone. Mine involved a mini bag fort and changing my slightly greasy pinnal into a kondai. As I carefully remove my DELL, like it’s worth its weight in gold from my very cool broken-zipped, strapless HCL bag, I well up looking at the water stains on the top, clearly a fruitless attempt of Amma’s to keep my laptop dust-free and open it to find 3 of Tulsi’s (my dog) hair on my keys, just a few zillion finger prints and a neat layer dust on the keys. Trust me, I needed to literally lift my computer to chin-level and blow, like one would do with an old book! When I looked up I found three people gaping at me like I was some sort of performing monkey. I pretended not to notice and dug my head into my laptop.

The transition slowly begins. From loose, airy salwars to snuggle-fit jeans, chappals to sneakers, from Vodafone prepaid sim to the French sim, (10 paise/min to 1€/min), from blaring noise to absolute deafening silence to the point where I can hear my anklets ‘jill-jill-jill’ echo while I walk the streets at 10 am! Before I continue, for the record, I do love Europe and I actually am slowly getting pumped to get started with the new year (also ‘cos the sooner it begins, the sooner it ends ;)) Only that my love for this place is sometimes, ok yes, more often than rare, clouded by my love for home. I’m not calling it homesickness, nope not this time. It’s just going to take a few days* to tune my brain to Europe. I wonder whether there’s a neuroscience theory to it. When love can be explained as a simple chemical reaction, desiness to non-desiness might just be switch-on/switch-off mechanism. All it takes is will power as I’m told!

* subjected to change without notice

I was just passed by a Tulsi replica and I was ignored!!! (Oh the heartbreak of not being slobbered over, getting muddy paw-prints and hair all over my clothes) Ok so this switch on/off thing maybe more complex than I thought!

*DEEEPPPPPPP BREATH*

So, welcome to the first of its kind, a Guest blog! Before you begin judging, give me a chance to defend this silly idea. For a person like me, who’s always thought of blogging but never broke out of that “personal writing” shell, I think this is a perfect start. And for people like Jayanth Kashyap, who could use the publicity of an awesome blog entry, its pretty prefect too! C’est parfait! :P It’s a wonder that I haven’t been kicked out of France for raping their language!

Switching Homes

Well, apart from the language murder, I recently realised I have done total injustice to this beautiful place I’ve stayed in for a year already. Last year’s lonely, gloomy gullies are today’s gorgeous cobblestone pathways decked with lush green canopies dancing to the gentle chilly breeze, with the sun playing hide and seek with the whipped-cream like clouds in the baby blue skies. It’s no wonder whichever tiny gully in some remote Indian village our bollywood/kollywood heroes hail from, and however localll they may be, they dance with their heroines only in European gullies. I honestly felt like bursting out into a song and was hoping for a hero to appear suddenly from behind a tree and twirl me around, with our costumes constantly changing as we danced.

Evidently, last year’s nostalgia-inducing songs on my playlist, where every song had its own history, are today’s regular sing-along songs. Last year’s committed, undeterred relationship with my computer (or rather skype) is today’s relationship with this place. Last year’s grumble-filled, whiny, polambifying foreign oor-kadhais are today’s overseas adventures and alien-land escapades. Last year’s loneliness is today’s individualism. Yes, it did take me a LONG time to find my “switch”.

For example – Me being highly loyal and unfalteringly biased to my mother’s mouth-watering food, the separation was initially unbearable. My first ever saambar was literally emosanal attyachar and I blamed France for it! *SWITCH* Meghna’s Special Sunday Saambar. All you need is patience and adaptable or better yet dead taste buds. :D

At the French grocery store - “3,90 € for a watermelon??! –brain gears start grinding... processing... 3,70 × 65 = Rs.253.50??!!!!- beep beep *curse* how will I gullet the fruit?”  *SWITCH* At the roadside besant nagar chappal shop, “Uncle, woh chappal kitne ka hai?” “Beta, woh chappal, 320 rupees, with 20 rupees discount, final rate Rs.300” “300??? –brain gears start grinding... processing... Rs. 300 = 4 € “Bas? Teekh hai Uncle”

In this ever-changing world and the sheer unpredictability of life, circumstances and situations, the magnitude of the “switch” is fascinating. The comfort of familiarity is beautiful, no doubt. But the weird and wonderful adrenalin-rush and the challenge of new, however daunting and overwhelming can be quite enjoyable when “switch”ed to discover the comfort in the unfamiliar.

Short circuit those hard-wired habits! *SWITCH!* ♪Wayyy ay ay way ay ay! Turn it over now, turn around now! ♪ ♫

For the uninitiated,

Glossary:

Thinnai – Table top
Chaplaankutti – Seated with folded legs
Pinnal – Braid/Plait
Kondai – The hair rolled into a bun
Salwars – The baggy Indian style pants
Chappal – Flip-flops
Polambifying – complaining
Oor kadhai – Story
Saambar – A south Indian delicacy (like a vegetable-lentil broth)
Emosanal attyachaar – emotional brutality