Free Kareem!

Today is Free Kareem Day. Kareem is an Egyptian blogger who has been arrested and will be prosecuted for daring to express his views on his personal blog. He is currently awaiting trial and will be sentenced to jail for 11 years if found guilty. There are world-wide rallies organised to further his cause. In India we are attepmting to assemble a concerted blog protest.

Freedom of speech and expression is as essential in human endeavour as breathing (cliche I know). Any attempts to muffle dissent must be brought to light by whatever means possible. I am glad to be a part of this movement, and I hope that my readers will also take up cudgels on behalf of not only Kareem, but the idea of free speech.

You can find out more about Kareem and the protest here.

The End of the World is Nigh

Because I am about to voluntarily defend Microsoft.

A new OS release from MS has been met with something considerably less than enthusiasm. It seems the tech media, and even the mass media, is sick of the MS experience, as it were. They've all used Windows98 and XP, and have met with the Blue Screen of Death, and patched and repatched their computers too many times to actually buy anything MS says about Vista being really, truly secure. This general underwhelmed reaction to the release of Vista is compounded by the fact that there are zillion versions that they've released (thus confusing consumers no end) and more importantly, that very few existing machines can actually run Vista. My laptop, which is pretty darn cool and loaded, can run the Home Ultimate edition, but only just. If I do install it, I'm sure I will be able to run barely any applications and it will kill my hard drive.

Oh wait, the defense. Yes. So, contrast all of this negative press with all the hoopla surrounding Apple's iPhone launch at MacWorld 07. Steve Jobs is a rockstar, even given all the stock-optioning issues, and Bill Gates is.... not. In interviews with the mainstream media, particularly this one with known Apple afficiando Steven Levy, Bill (and by extension, Microsoft) comes across as a man with a serious case of Apple envy. But if you read the questions asked, and measure them against his responses, the slightly defensive tone is quite warranted. Through the entire release, all they've been asked about is Apple and OS X, and this is compounded by Apple's cheeky PC and Mac ads. The media has also gone overboard with predictions of this sort. While I don't doubt that Apple's market share will increase, and I also don't doubt that the pick-up on Vista will be slower that XP, MS, to all intents and purposes, still dominates the PC market as much as it ever did. Linux has made little to no headway in market share, and Apple may increase its share, but its a long way from even being true competition.

I have also read many, many opinion pieces speculating that Apple will now take advantage of the general public distrust of MS and start to license its OS X to other PC makers. Michael Dell has said he would put OS X on his computers in a jiffy if he could. But I honestly doubt that such licensing will happen. As some people have pointed out, the reason OS X is relatively secure as compared to MS, is because the hardware it runs on is as controlled by Apple as the software. MS doesn't have a say in its hardware, it doesn't offer a vertical experience. Thus, its very pervasiveness ensures that hackers are far more likely to spend their time and energy exploiting security holes in an MS OS.

Having said all that, however, I'm not migrating to Vista anytime soon. I will wait atleast a year to upgrade, and I may just trade in my laptop for a Mac well before that.

In the meantime, Steve Jobs has written an opinion piece on Apple's Thoughts on Music blog that gives me the fuzzies. Of course, this seems like it is atleast partially in response to the EU lawsuit but his ideas are still very interesting, and as user, exciting.

Also, can I express my extreme dissatisfaction at all the rumors of an important Apple ad during Superbowl this year (echoing its iconic 1984 ad) being completely false? I lived in a state of suspenseful anticipation and then... nothing. And on the same note: the Superbowl ads? Sucked, mainly. For me, the best of the bunch was Coke's Grand Theft Auto commercial. Bud Light's Slap was good and so was CBS' Letterman and Oprah but... that was it.

Battlestar Muzaktica, Indeed

The reason for this unprecedented double post is that I had to say something about how absolutely incredible the score on Battlestar Galactica is. I love the show for its incredible character-driven drama, its morality and its politics, but the music sets the tone perfectly.

And there is one particular piece, called Passacaglia, which is beautiful in its simplicity. Its haunting, its bleak, and its sense of tragedy is almost palpable. It is the kind of music that you want to die to.

ETA: This is the blog of the composer for the miniseries, Bear McCreary. Its an interesting read for anyone interested in music, and also a fascinating insight to the creative process behind a score.

Winners, All

An extremely belated round-up of various Guild winners:

Screen Actors' Guild Awards:

Female Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries - Helen Mirren, Elizabeth I

Male Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries - Jeremy Irons, Elizabeth I

Male Actor in a Comedy Series - Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

Female Actor in a Comedy Series - America Ferrera, Ugly Betty

Ensemble in a Comedy Series - The Office

Male Actor in a Supporting Role - Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls

Life Achievement Award - Julie Andrews

Female Actor in a Drama Series - Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy

Male Actor in a Drama Series - Hugh Laurie, House

Ensemble in a Drama Series - Grey's Anatomy

Female Actor in a Supporting Role - Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls

Male Actor in a Leading Role - Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Female Actor in a Leading Role - Helen Mirren, The Queen

Cast of a Motion Picture - Little Miss Sunshine

My (100% biased) thoughts: While I dig Hugh Laurie as Dr. House, having already won this award before, I'd have hoped the SAG looked elsewhere (remember Michael C. Hall?). Also, I really really love Grey's Anatomy, that show pushes my buttons, BUT a) they didn't nominate possibly the two best ensembles on TV in the category (Battlestar Galactica and The Wire) and b) even amongst the nominations, it can be argued that Grey's is one of the weaker shows, not the stronger.

I'm also loving that Chandra Wilson won for her Bailey, absolutely my favorite character on Grey's, and that Ugly Betty is receiving so many plaudits in its first season.

I don't have anything worthwhile to say about the movie awards. The less I say, the better, except: I watched Little Miss Sunshine, and color me underwhelmed. How The Departed could be overlooked for an arty road movie (excellent though the performers are, and entertaining though the film is), is beyond me.

Directors' Guild of America Award: Martin Scorsese, The Departed.

Nothing but YAY! Here's to an eventual Oscar. (Finally!)

Producers' Guild of America Award: Little Miss Sunshine.

See Above.

I'm semi-excited about the WGA Awards on Feb. 11, seeing as they were the only ones smart enough to nominate BSG for something. Well, rant or rave, it'll be on here.

Genius, Ridiculous

So, Tiger Woods and Roger Federer.

They're a little bit ridiculous, and watching them play, you really have to think that God created them differently. That they have a special talent. How else can one explain the absolute, crushing superiority that both men enjoy in their respective sports? Sure, they work hard, have great work ethic, have dedicated their life to this. But I'm sure atleast one of the pursuing pack has as much, if not more, hardworking dedication to the sport. And yes, these guys have the drive to succeed, they want to win more than anything and it never gets very boring for them to continue to win, but again, there must be other professionals who're just tired of losing and are as driven to win, if not more.

Michael Schumacher used to be a part of this pantheon, but he's retired now. He is truly legendary in that his achievements are in past, and with time they will acquire the patina of awed wonder. Tiger and Roger are still on their paths, their stories are not yet complete. But with their forms of late, it is hard to even conceive of anyone defeating them.

Their friendship is something wonderful to us mere mortals. Its almost like a competition, and we, the public, lap up this camaraderie between our modern gods.

Anyhow, I don't really have a point, except to say that these men? Have got to be differently blessed.

Addendum

To this post.

The whole Celebrity Big Brother fracas has resulted in loads of editorials being written about the racism, discrimination et al. Most of these op-eds, from what I've read, have chosen to berate the Indian government and society for an over the top reaction. Many have drawn parallels between the intrinsic caste-ist behaviour of Indian society and racism of the kind that was drawn attention to by Jane Goody's conduct. The implication has been that as a society, India is ill-equipped to cast stones, given its own propensity for discrimination based on caste. I think that this is rather missing the point.

What these people seem to be arguing is that somehow Jane Goody's crimes (such as they were) are mitigated because India is so deeply racist. While the episode is as good a time as any to draw attention to our own shortcomings, I don't understand what the purpose of contrasting the ills of our society to the wondrous (or not, depending on the editorial) qualities of Britain's are. We have a lot of work to do, yes, but the point of this whole episode is to showcase that so do others. It is ultimately irrelevant that India is racist; this story is about Britain's racism, about Britain's prejudices. Lets not cloud the issue, or give it a pass, simply because we as a society also have many many things to repair.

Ze Nominations Le Oscar

So, the big one, then. The grand-daddy of all award shows, complete with whining and campaigning and bullshitting and cattiness. Here are the nominees:

Best Picture
Babel
The Departed
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

Muahahahaha. No Dreamgirls. That in itself makes me love the Academy this year. I've only seen 3 of the movies on this list (with the exceptions being The Queen and Letters from Iwo Jima). Wide-open category - a couple of days ago, I would've said Babel was the front-runner (if only just) but Little Miss Sunshine's PGA award has muddled up the waters even more. Letters is a surprising and extremely deserving nominee, if the end-of-year lists are anything to go by. Its also surprising to me that United 93 didn't get nominated, but I suppose it lost momentum after its early Critics Circle wins.

Best Animated Film
Happy Feet
Cars
Monster House

Absolutely no surprises here. I think the competition is between Happy Feet and Cars, with Monster House the outside bet. That said, I can't see anyone upsetting the might of Pixar.

Best Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Peter O'Toole, Venus
Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
Forest Whittaker, The Last King of Scotland

Two major issues with this list: A) Leo's nom for Blood Diamond, I mean hel-lo. and B) I really really wish the Academy had been less predictable and not nominated Will Smith. Sacha Baron Cohen should've been on that list. However, props for finally nominating Ryan Gosling.

Best Actress
Penelope Cruz, Volver
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet, Little Children

I suppose the nomination for Meryl Streep was unavoidable - she was definitely the best part of the movie for me, the only thing that made it tolerable. But it was such a horrible film that I wish it didn't exist.

Best Director
Babel (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu)
The Departed (Martin Scorsese)
Letters from Iwo Jima (Clint Eastwood)
The Queen (Stephen Frears)
United 93 (Paul Greengrass)

Again, no Bill Condon. Yes! Also Paul Greengrass gets nominated at the expense of the Little Miss Sunshine duo.

Achievement in Art Direction
Dreamgirls, The Good Shepherd, Pan's Labyrinth, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and The Prestige.

Honestly, having seen stills of Pan's Labyrinth, I can't see how it will not win.

Best Cinematography
The Black Dahlia (Vilmos Zsigmond), Children of Men (Emmanuel Lubezki), The Illusionist (Dick Pope), Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo Navarro), and The Prestige (Wally Pfister)

See Above. Though I absolutely loved The Prestige.

Best Documentary
Deliver Us from Evil, An Inconvenient Truth, Iraq in Fragments, Jesus Camp, and My Country, My Country

I have, despite my best efforts, seen precisely one of these films...

Best Documentary Short Subject
The Blood of Yingzhou District, Recycled Live, Rehearsing a Dream, Two Hands.

... and none of these.

Best Editing
Babel, Blood Diamond, Children of Men, The Departed, United 93

Blood Diamond?

Best Foreign Language Film
After the Wedding (Denmark), Days of Glory (Algeria), The Lives of Others (Germany), Pan's Labyrinth (Mexico) Water (Canada)

For me, the biggest snob of these awards: No nomination for Volver, thus shutting out Almodovar.

Original Score
"Babel" (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Gustavo
Santaolalla
"The Good German" (Warner Bros.) Thomas Newman
"Notes on a Scandal" (Fox Searchlight) Philip Glass
"Pan's Labyrinth" (Picturehouse) Javier Navarrete
"The Queen" (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Alexandre Desplat

I adore the Babel score.

Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
Djimon Hounsou, Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Mark Walhberg, The Departed

Alan Arkin everybody! Also, yay Mark Wahlberg. And yay for NOT nominating Brad Pitt.

Best Supporting Actress
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Adriana Barraza, Babel
Rinko Kikuchi, Babel

Fabulously happy with Rinko Kakuchi and Adriana Barraza's nominations.

Best original scripts
Babel
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
Pan's Labyrinth
The Queen

Um no problems here...

Best adapted scripts
Borat
Children of Men
The Departed
Little Children
Notes on a Scandal

... Or here. I hope Children of Men wins, though The Departed is a lesson in how to do a remake.

All in all, I'm actually pretty pleased with this list. Though I would've liked the Academy to be more adventurous, it never is, and hence films like Children of Men and The Prestige get shut out.

Oh, the Razzie nominations:

Worst Picture

Basic Instinct 2 (a.k.a. Basically, It Stinks, Too) -- Sony/Columbia --- Hee!!!!
Bloodrayne -- Romar Entertainment
Lady In The Water -- Warner Bros.
Little Man -- Sony/Revolution
Wicker Man -- Warner Bros.

Worst Actor
Tim Allen -- The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, The Shaggy Dog and Zoom
Nicolas Cage -- Wicker Man
Larry, The Cable Guy (Dan Whitney) -- Larry The Cable Guy: Health Inspector
Rob Schneider -- The Benchwarmers and Little Man
Marlon Wayans & Shawn Wayans -- Little Man

Worst Actress
Hilary Duff & Haylie Duff -- Material Girls
Lindsay Lohan -- Just My Luck
Kristanna Loken -- Bloodrayne
Jessica Simpson -- Employee Of The Month
Sharon Stone -- Basically It Stinks, Too

Worst Supporting Actor
Danny DeVito -- Deck The Halls
Ben Kingsley -- Bloodrayne
M. Night Shyamalan -- Lady In The Water
Martin Short -- Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
David Thewlis -- Basically, It Stinks, Too! and The Omen

Worst Supporting Actress
Kate Bosworth -- Superman Returns
Kristin Chenoweth -- Deck The Halls, Pink Panther and RV
Carmen Electra -- Date Movie and Scary Movie 4
Jenny McCarthy -- John Tucker Must Die
Michelle Rodriguez -- Bloodrayne

Worst Screen Couple
Tim Allen & Martin Short -- Santa Clause 3
Nicolas Cage & His Bear Suit -- Wicker Man
Hilary & Haylie Duff -- Material Girls
Sharon Stone's Lop-Sided Breasts -- Basically, It Stinks, Too
Shawn Wayans & Kerry Washington -- Little Man
Shawn Wayans & Marlon Wayans -- Little Man

Worst Remake or Rip-Off
Little Man -- (Rip-off of the 1954 Bugs Bunny cartoon "Baby Buggy Bunny")
Pink Panther -- Sony/Columbia
Poseidon -- Warner Bros.
The Shaggy Dog Story -- Disney
Wicker Man -- Warner Bros.

Worst Prequel or Sequel
Basically, It Stinks, Too -- Sony/Columbia
Big Momma's House 2 -- Fox
Garfield 2: A Tail Of Two Kitties -- Warner Bros.
Santa Clause 3 -- Disney
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning -- New Line

Worst Director
Uwe Boll -- Bloodrayne
Michael Caton-Jones -- Basic Instinct 2
Ron Howard -- The Da Vinci Code
M. Night Shyamalan -- Lady In The Water
Keenan Ivory Wayans -- Little Man

Worst Screenplay
Basically, It Stinks, Too -- Screenplay by Leora Barish & Henry Bean -- Based on Characters Created by Joe Eszterhas
Bloodrayne -- Screenplay by Guinevere Turner, Based on the Video Game
Lady In The Water -- Written by M. Night Shyamalan
Little Man -- Written by Keenan Ivory Wayans, Marlon Wayans and Shawn Wayans
Wicker Man -- Screenplay Adapted by Neil LaBute from a Screenplay by Anthony Schaffer

Worst Excuse for Family Entertainment -- (New Category!)
Deck The Halls -- Fox
Garfield 2: A Tail Of Two Kitties -- Fox
RV -- Sony/Columbia
Santa Clause 3 -- Disney
The Shaggy Dog -- Disney

Basically, yay. Though I think Uwe Boll should be given a category of his own now. And thank the Lord that Kate Bosworth was nominated. Ugh, Lois Lane indeed.

TV Nanny, par excellence

So, AXN has been banned from Indian airwaves for 2 months for daring to telecast some claptrap called Sexiest TV Advertisements. Let's ignore the fact that this show would've been on late at night. Lets also ignore the limited TRPs an English-language channel gets. Forget even that AXN is possibly one of the braver TV channels on here in India, which screens [heavily censored] versions of Nip/Tuck, and some other excellent dramas, including 24, House and Numbers. To avoid any potential conflict with the government, Star World has decided to cease broadcasting Baywatch and Baywatch Hawaii immediately. None of this is important. What is important is that once again, our government feels the need to protect its citizens from the evils of Western programming. Because, of course, watching semi-nude women prance around is tantamount to incitement and leads to the wholesale degradation of moral values.

I don't understand why its obscene to see sexy adverts. I don't understand why its offensive to our politicians. I don't understand why this is not OK, but its OK to show videos of someone being hanged, and killed all over the news channels, and show them 24/7. I'm not saying that the govt should've legislated against these channels, or banned the video. But they left it to the discretion of the management, and why can't they leave this stuff to programming heads as well?

What really annoys me is how all of this interventionism passes under the radar. There will be a report in the papers, but by and large this is ignored. A few months ago, movies had to be re-edited and censored to pass inspection from the CBFC, again, before being telecast. Any films rated 'A' (Adult) was banned from being shown. HBO routinely censors its award-winning shows, like Deadwood and Rome. Then, we have situations where someone makes a jokey video about Mahatma Gandhi. The point isn't whether the video was in bad taste or not. The fact that the Ministry felt the need to get involved is the issue here. A video which would've been largely overlooked by the general populace became the you-tube hit of the moment only because the Ministry created such a big ruckus around it. When is all of this going to stop? When will our govt realise that as adults, as a functioning democracy and as a people who choose their own government, we do not need supervision in what to watch on television? Sometimes, people really are capable of making these decisions themselves. I know, shocker.

And then there are instances where political incorrectness on prime time television has been creating such a massive furor in the US and UK. I'm referring to the backstage Grey's Anatomy drama, which dates back to October, where Isaiah Washington, who essays the part of Burke, referred to his co-star as a f*****. The whole thing blew up again at the Golden Globes, where Grey's won Best Drama. IW is on record as saying it "Never Happened" and then TR Knight, whose coming out was precipitated by the October fracas, goes on Ellen to say it did, and that "Everyone heard it".The sad part is the way the whole issue has been mis-handled to this degree. With a creator who goes on about diversity on her show, both Shonda Rhimes and ABC are very responsible for the mess that exists right now. In any case, the slur is unforgivable, definitely on par with calling someone an N-word, or a P***. Which leads me nicely into the second show creating waves of the wrong kind - Celebrity Big Brother with its on-set shenanigans involving actress Shilpa Shetty and other residents of the house. Having watched a few of the videos, I can say that racially motivated or not, Shilpa was attacked, and if all it takes is a few other issues to remove the veneer of multiculturalism and descend to name-calling that utilizes racist epithets, then these people (both IW and CBB "celebrities") are in their essences homophobic, and racist.

All that remains is for the networks in question (ABC and Channel 4) to wake up and do something. Such behaviour must be marked out as unacceptable. At this point, it doesn't matter what the intent or motivation of the people using these words were. Both the situations have exploded into a comment on their respective societies, and must be addressed. The networks need to get their heads out of their asses and realise that not all publicity is good publicity. It doesn't matter if IW's insults were more about Patrick Dempsey than TR Knight. It doesn't matter if Shilpa Shetty hasn't been "overtly abused" as the channel now seems to be saying.

Oh, and the very idea that TR and Shilpa have somehow brought this upon themselves by being, I don't know, gay and Indian respectively, is outrageous. I will never look at Germaine Greer the same way again - I didn't know Germaine, that there were some forms of equality more important than others. And USA Today should take a good, long look at themselves and how they choose to portray things.

Living History

On Tuesday, 16.01.2007, I had the privilege of watching two of the greatest living (Jazz) musicians, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, live in concert.

The concert was organised by the American Centre, held at Siri Fort in New Delhi and was marked by the sort of mismanagement that seems to be a trademark of all events at Siri Fort. It started over an hour late, passes were over-issued and atleast a thousand people were turned away at the gate after having queued up for well over an hour. I would've been one of those people, if I had not found a friend near the front of the queue and joined her. I had NO idea Delhi had that many Jazz enthusiasts.

As it turned out, the concert was well worth the trouble. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to listen to these guys, so influential in the history of music, play live. I am admittedly a jazz newbie, in so far as even though I love the music, I haven't been driven to find out more about it - its origin, its history. However this concert changed all that for me, and (totally coincidentally) I happen to be reading Eric Hobsbawm's Uncommon People as of now. The combination of the book and the concert has led me to read more about Jazz and its beginnings, and what I've found out has made me love the genre even more.

Hobsbawm's incredibly well-written book (much like his other, more political, books) traces the history of Jazz from the 1920s social rebellion to Sidney Bechet, through to Ella Fitzgerald and the decline of Jazz to Miles Davis and its resurrection in the 1960s/1970s. Jazz, especially Hobsbawm's take on it, has a very inspiring story behind it, given its roots in the Civil Rights Movement, and its status as music of oppressed peoples, for lack of a better word.

All music post Jazz owes a very big debt to it. Without Jazz, there would be no Hip-hop, and even rock would sound incredibly different. Thus to see such practitioners as Hancock and Shorter in their skin was a surreal but humbling experience.

The Globes

*insert obligatory "globe" joke here*

Now that I've got that out of the way, here is the list of winners:
Best Television Series - Drama
24
Big Love
Grey's Anatomy
Heroes
Lost

Best Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy
Marcia Cross (Desperate Housewives)
America Ferrera (Ugly Betty)
Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (New Adventures of Old Christine)
Mary Louise Parker (Weeds)

Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy
Desperate Housewives
Entourage
The Office
Ugly Betty
Weeds

Best Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy
Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)
Zach Braff (Scrubs)
Steve Carell (The Office)
Jason Lee (My Name is Earl)
Tony Shalhoub (Monk)

Best Mini-Series or TV Movie
Bleak House
Broken Trail
Elizabeth I
Mrs. Harris
Prime Suspect: The Final Act

Best Actor in a Television Series
Patrick Dempsey (Grey's Anatomy)
Michael C. Hall (Dexter)
Hugh Laurie (House)
Bill Paxton (Big Love)
Kiefer Sutherland (24)

Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or Movie
Emily Blunt (Gideon's Daughter)
Toni Collette (Tsunami, the Aftermath)
Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy)
Sarah Paulson (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip)
Elizabeth Perkins (Weeds)

Best Actress in a Television Series
Patricia Arquette (Medium)
Edie Falco (The Sopranos)
Evangeline Lilly (Lost)
Ellen Pompeo (Grey's Anatomy)
Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer)

Best Supporting Actor in Series, Mini-Series or Movie
Thomas Haden Church (Broken Trail)
Jeremy Irons (Elizabeth I)
Justin Kirk (Weeds)
Masi Oka (Heroes)
Jeremy Piven (Entourage)

Best Picture Drama - Babel

Best Picture Musical or Comedy - Dreamgirls

Best Supporting Actress - Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls

Best Supporting Actor -- Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls

Best Song "The Song of My Heart", Happy Feet, Prince Rogers Nelson

Best Score -- The Painted Veil

Best Screenplay - The Queen

Best Animated Picture -- Cars

Best Actress Musical or Comedy -- Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada

Best Actress Drama -- Helen Mirren, The Queen

Best Actor Drama -- Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Best Actor Musical or Comedy -- Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat

I'm obviously not happy with Grey's Anatomy winning Best Drama, but Ugly Betty (and America Ferrara's) win makes me really really happy. The movie awards were really not much of a surprise, though I suppose one couldn't have predicted Eddie Murphy winning for Dreamgirls. Which I already hate, btw, for absolutely no reason. I also loved that Sacha Baron Cohen won. Really hope he gets an Oscar nom, think it'll be up there with Johnny Depp's nom for Pirates.

I haven't blogged about having watched The Prestige (finally!!!) and Babel. I really, really liked both films. I've read a lot of criticism for Babel, but the movie mostly moved me, and was quite an intense experience. I shall post a more detailed review later. The Prestige, on the other hand, blew me away, with the fantastic direction, great acting, fabulous pacing. It took a book that I would've thought was really difficult to translate to screen and did it brilliantly. Christopher Nolan, you are a genius.

iWant

From the Macworld SF.


All pictures courtesy Engadget, in case the watermark didn't give it away.

Also check out Apple's website

*dissolves in apple-fangirly puddle of goo*

Oh, and Happy New Year, Everyone.

ETA: Wired's initial impressions. Excerpts:

"The amount of innovation coming out of Apple is astounding. The iPhone doesn't just match its competitors, it leaps right over them.

From what Jobs showed Tuesday, the iPhone really does look to be five years ahead of what anyone else has got. Maybe longer. It's taken rivals five years to catch up with the iPod, which now looks hopelessly outdated and crippled compared to the iPhone."

Beware of the Linkspam

Note: This list has been in development for nearly 3 weeks now, so really, the warning in title? Is very meant.

This isn't even the worst of it. In anticipation of how sour this could get, let me just say that my new TV boyfriend is Jamie Bamber. (and bombard you with picspam to complement the linkspam coming your way) *sigh....* I do NOT understand how I missed him before. Not only does he have, you know, the body (I am shallow) and the bluest eyes, like, ever, he's also got a FIRST CLASS degree with HONOURS from CAMBRIDGE.

Another bit of absolutely unbelievable news is how Joss Whedon (OMG) and JJ Abrams (OMG) are directing consecutive episodes of The Office. I do not kid.

More year-end "Best of" lists are now out. I will link to them, and discuss some of the more (to me, anyway) annoying aspects. Oh, the WGA nominees are also out, and lets just say that I have some issues.

TELEVISION NOMINEES

DRAMATIC SERIES

24
DEADWOOD
GREY’S ANATOMY
LOST
THE SOPRANOS

The unimaginativeness gets to me, no The Wire, no BSG, no VM, same old Lost and same old Sopranos. Grey's has hardly had a stellar creative year either.

COMEDY SERIES

30 ROCK
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM
ENTOURAGE
THE OFFICE

30 Rock is funny but uneven - and Curb Your Enthusiasm is again a symptom of going with the familiar. Where is My Name is Earl? And what about Ugly Betty?

NEW SERIES

30 ROCK
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
HEROES
STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP
UGLY BETTY

No Dexter. And if they've nominated the pilot of Big Love, that could've been on here as well.

EPISODIC DRAMA — any length — one airing time

ELECTION DAY, PART II (The West Wing)
OCCUPATION/PRECIPICE (Battlestar Galactica)
TWO FOR THE ROAD (Lost)
THE END OF THE WHOLE MESS(Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King)
PILOT (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip)
PILOT (Big Love)

Really, Really hope BSG takes this one.

EPISODIC COMEDY — any length — one airing time

IT TAKES TWO (Desperate Housewives)
DON'T LOOK AT ME (Desperate Housewives)
BOMB SHELTER (Malcolm in the Middle)
CASINO NIGHT (The Office)
THE COUP (The Office)
UMP FOR JOY (My Name is Earl)

Desperate Housewives. Just.. Guh.

****************

Also, yet another screening of Volver and yet another time I am not going to watch it, because my buddies are a big pile of ditchers.

The SAG nominations were announced, and Oh God, they're even more unimaginative than the Globes. Grrrr.

13TH ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS® NOMINATIONS


THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Leonardo DiCaprio / BLOOD DIAMOND – Archer - Warner Bros. Pictures
Ryan Gosling / HALF NELSON – Dan Dunne - THINKFilm
Peter O’Toole / VENUS – Maurice - Miramax Films
Will Smith / THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS – Chris Gardner - Sony Pictures
Forest Whitaker / THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND – Idi Amin - Fox Searchlight Pictures

What's with the Will Smith nomination? And, please, a nom for Blood Diamond? For what, the worst accent in history? (Okay, I exaggerate).

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Penelope Cruz / VOLVER – Raimunda - Sony Pictures Classics
Judi Dench / NOTES ON A SCANDAL – Barbara Covett - Fox Searchlight Pictures
Helen Mirren / THE QUEEN – The Queen - Miramax Films.
Meryl Streep / THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA – Miranda Priestly - 20th Century Fox
Kate Winslet / LITTLE CHILDREN – Sarah Pierce - New Line Cinema

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin / LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE – Grandpa Fox Searchlight Pictures
Leonardo DiCaprio / THE DEPARTED – Billy Warner Bros. Pictures
Jackie Earle Haley / LITTLE CHILDREN – Ronnie J. McGorvey New Line Cinema
Djimon Hounsou / BLOOD DIAMOND – Solomon Warner Bros. Pictures
Eddie Murphy / DREAMGIRLS – James “Thunder” Early Paramount Pictures

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Adriana Barraza / BABEL – Amelia - Paramount Vantage
Cate Blanchett / NOTES ON A SCANDAL – Sheba Hart - Fox Searchlight Pictures
Abigail Breslin / LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE – Olive - Fox Searchlight Pictures
Jennifer Hudson / DREAMGIRLS – Effie White - Paramount Pictures
Rinko Kikuchi / BABEL – Chieko - Paramount Vantage

I'm very happy with both noms for Babel.

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

BABEL
BOBBY
THE DEPARTED
DREAMGIRLS
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

PRIMETIME TELEVISION

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Thomas Haden Church / BROKEN TRAIL – Tom Harte - AMC
Robert Duvall / BROKEN TRAIL – Print Ritter - AMC
Jeremy Irons / ELIZABETH I – Earl of Leicester - HBO
William H. Macy / NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES – Clyde Umney - TNT
Matthew Perry / THE RON CLARK STORY – Ron Clark - TNT

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Annette Bening / MRS. HARRIS – Jean Harris - HBO
Shirley Jones / HIDDEN PLACES – Aunt Batty - Hallmark Channel
Cloris Leachman / MRS. HARRIS – Tarnower’s Sister - HBO
Helen Mirren / ELIZABETH I – Elizabeth I - HBO
Greta Scacchi / BROKEN TRAIL – Nola Johns - AMC

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
James Gandolfini / THE SOPRANOS – Tony Soprano - HBO
Michael C. Hall / DEXTER – Dexter Morgan - Showtime
Hugh Laurie / HOUSE – Dr. Gregory House - FOX
James Spader / BOSTON LEGAL – Alan Shore - ABC
Kiefer Sutherland / 24 – Jack Bauer - FOX

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Patricia Arquette / MEDIUM – Allison Dubois - NBC
Edie Falco / THE SOPRANOS – Carmela Soprano - HBO
Mariska Hargitay / LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT – Det. Olivia Benson - NBC
Kyra Sedgwick / THE CLOSER – Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson - TNT
Chandra Wilson / GREY’S ANATOMY – Dr. Miranda Bailey - ABC

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin / 30 ROCK – Jack Donaghy - NBC
Steve Carell / THE OFFICE – Michael Scott - NBC
Jason Lee / MY NAME IS EARL – Earl Hicke - NBC
Jeremy Piven / ENTOURAGE – Ari Gold - HBO
Tony Shalhoub / MONK – Adrian Monk - USA

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
America Ferrera / UGLY BETTY – Betty Suarez - ABC
Felicity Huffman / DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES – Lynette - ABC
Julia Louis-Dreyfus / THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE – Christine Campbell -
Megan Mullally / WILL & GRACE – Karen Walker - NBC
Mary-Louise Parker / WEEDS – Nancy Botwin - Showtime
Jaime Pressly / MY NAME IS EARL – Joy - NBC

Default setting: Megan Mullally for Will and Grace. How about a side order of some IMAGINATION guys. Oh, well.... atleast Jaime Pressly wasn't ignored.

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

24
BOSTON LEGAL
DEADWOOD
GREY’S ANATOMY
THE SOPRANOS

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
ENTOURAGE
THE OFFICE
UGLY BETTY
WEEDS

I should probably just give up on expecting decent stuff from television awards. Having watched most of the things they nominate, and a LOT of the things they didn't I have to say that these awards are a joke. The Wire, Battlestar Galactica AND Veronica Mars are snubbed in every category, and they are actually pretty much the best things on TV. And where does Boston Legal get all this love?? Like someone suggested on a rant, David E. Kelley must have a good many photos of a good many people in extremely compromising positions to get nominated. Award-whore-bitch-man. [/rant] I'm also not thrilled about continued recognition for Desperate Housewives, especially after its super-sucky Season Deux.

Much love for the Empire's end-of-year movie list though. While I don't agree with some choices (especially the COMPLETELY misplaced love for Superman Returns: for more on my opinion on that film see this post.) I love them for including atleast 5 films from my own best of year list, and not having much that I disagree with. Though I do disagree with their best film of the year, which is United 93. I also *love* that they put The Prestige on the list, and so high up as well. And its looking more and more likely that the best-film-I-haven't-seen-yet is Pan's Labyrinth.

The Producer's Guild Awards and Director's Guild have also announced nominees, but I can't be arsed to hunt links and post them here, because they will disappoint me anyway.

Anyway, here are the end-of-year lists that are (IMO) important, or atleast the opinions of these publications are considered important.

Time says these (or these) are the best films of the year. But their choice in TV sucks, because a) no Veronica Mars and b) no Battlestar Galactica.

The New York Times movie critics' choices for this year can be found here, here and here. Among them, they have a pretty good list going, though I will never agree with any list that has Miami Vice on it. Though that could just be all my Colin Farrell hate.

A blogger has compiled a list of the best TV based on other best-of lists:

1. 24 (80)
2. The Wire (77)
3. The Office (76)
4. Battlestar Galactica (69)
5. Friday Night Lights (62)
6. Heroes (60)
7. Lost (49)
8. Grey's Anatomy (48)
9. Rescue Me (34)
10. Veronica Mars (33)

I'm a little amazed by all the appreciation for Heroes. I really, really like and enjoy the show, and don't miss an episode, but it is hardly the best-written or best-paced dramas. The plot points leave a lot to be desired, and the acting is good, but not mind-blowing. I'm surprised, for example, that Dexter didn't make it on this list.

Bringing the Christmas Back

End of year festivities means that my office is playing Christmas Carols pretty incessantly. Currently, my colleagues and I are wigging out to Heal the World. Of course when one thinks of Michael Jackson singing it with his penchant for little boys all I get are the wiggins. (Ha, ha. See what I did there? See? See?)

All of this carol singing and tree decorating is bringing back memories that are best left buried. Having gone to a small convent school with extremely strict nuns running the place, Christmas entailed some major competitiveness and parable-sharing. Carol singing competitions, crib-making competitions, skits, plays, trees and a lesson a day were par for the course. As House Captain I'd be standing and trying very hard to shout out militant orders, but mostly (like any good General) I delegated.

There are also better memories, of bone-crushingly enthusiastic children falling all over each other to get first in line to play games at some Christmas Carnival or other. And I shall be re-living said memories in three-dimensional glory, at the IHC on Christmas Day. Oh, Joy. 'Cept not.

However, before I get accused of being too Scrooge-like, let me take this opportunity to direct y'all to an extremely funny Christmas greeting (don't worry, I am not inflicting the atrocious-but-funny 12 Days of Christmas video on you). In keeping with the fact that Battlestar Galactica is my new obsession (having rewatched season 1 and waiting impatiently for season 2 to finish the frakkin' download) I give you:

Happy Holidays, Everybody!

Heroes!

Star World starts telecasting Heroes from January. That is incredibly quick for a show to find its way onto Indian shores. Also proves what a big hit the show is.

I'm not complaining! Yay! One less show to download, that is if the CAS PVR thingy comes in the set top box, or our DTH people start supplying PVRs.

In other news:

Jason Dohring is Yum-may. Here's proof:
All images are courtesy the fabulous LJ user leucocrystal from this post here.

Golden Globes, and Reversal of Fortunes

The inner 11-year old pervert that I am will always snicker when I think of the Golden Globes. But that aside, I normally wait for the Globes with baited breath, considering how it kicks off the award season propah.

This year I was surprised to realise, going through the lists for movie and television nominees, that I was actually more familiar with the television than the movies. It is normally the other way round, but here it just highlights how many films I have yet to see before the Oscars. (I'm a total award whore BTW. I love the whole process of bitching about the nominations, rooting for your favourite, bitching about the awards and examining everyone's dresses with a magnifying glass. So sue me.)

So basically I don't have major gripes with the movie shortlists, if only because I haven't seen enough of them to have an opinion. But running through the list and offering my immediately biased opinions anyway:

Best Motion Picture
Babel
Bobby
The Departed
Little Children
The Queen

Bobby? Really? I have seen it, and... best picture? Puh-leeze.

Best Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
The Devil Wears Prada
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine
Thank You For Smoking

Don't even get me started on how wrong all this love for The Devil Wears Prada is.

Best Director
Clint Eastwood - Flags of Our Fathers
Clint Eastwood - Letters from Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears - The Queen
Alejandro González Iñárritu - Babel
Martin Scorsese - The Departed

Does Clint Eastwood need 2 nominations?

Best Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio - Blood Diamond
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Departed
Peter O'Toole - Venus
Will Smith - The Pursuit of Happyness
Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland

I'm absolutely certain Leo does not need two noms, by all accounts his accent in Blood Diamond is horrific.

Best Actress
Penelope Cruz - Volver
Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Sherrybaby
Helen Mirren - The Queen
Kate Winslet - Little Children

Possibly the one category I have no issues with - if only because I haven't seen any film.

Best Actor -- Musical or Comedy
Sacha Baron Cohen - Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean 2
Aaron Eckhart - Thank You For Smoking
Chiwetel Ejiofor - Kinky Boots
Will Ferrell - Stranger Than Fiction

The one category I have seen all the films in. I liked Aaron Eckhart... but I'm not certain it was nomination worthy. And I love Johnny Depp, and Jack Sparrow, but this was hardly the surprise it was for the first film. I don't have alternate nominations though, so not too much complaining.

Best Actress -- Musical or Comedy
Annette Bening - Running with Scissors
Toni Colette - Little Miss Sunshine
Beyonce Knowles - Dreamgirls
Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada
Renee Zellweger - Miss Potter

Again, I love Meryl Streep, but misplaced is the word I'm looking for.

Best Supporting Actor
Ben Affleck - Hollywoodland
Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls
Jack Nicholson - The Departed
Brad Pitt - Babel
Mark Wahlberg - The Departed

IMO, this category could have been comprised entirely of The Departed. I'd have liked to see Alec Baldwin and Matt Damon recognised as well.

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Hudson- Dreamgirls
Adriana Barraza - Babel
Cate Blanchett - Notes on a Scandal
Emily Blunt - The Devil Wears Prada
Kikuchi Rinko - Babel

Again with the wrongness that is the Devil Wears Prada.

Best Foreign Language Film

Apocalypto
Letters from Iwo Jima
The Lives of Others
Pans Labyrinth
Volver

Apocalypto? Really? Really? Really?

I'm not getting into the other categories, because I really can't have an opinion on them without having seen the films.

So while all in all this is a decent list, the TV nominations? Not even close.

Best TV Series - Drama
24
Big Love
Grey's Anatomy
Heroes
Lost

I like Heroes. I love Grey's. I like 24. I like Lost (even though I have only watched season 1). I even like whatever Big Love I have watched. BUT. I mean, c'mon. Heroes is not even the best of the new shows on network TV. (Portentous writing and a grandiose feel to the whole show does not endear the writing to me. ) Friday Night Lights is possibly that. 4 episodes of Dexter have convinced me that it deserves to be on this list. And Dear God, why no Veronica Mars? Or Battlestar Galactica?

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Drama
Patricia Arquette, Medium
Edie Falco, The Sopranos
Evangeline Lilly, Lost
Ellen Pompeo, Grey's Anatomy
Kyra Sedgewick, The Closer

No Kristen Bell for Veronica Mars. Really, Edie Falco yet AGAIN? Evangeline Lilly for what?

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Drama
Patrick Dempsey, Grey's Anatomy
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Hugh Laurie, House
Bill Paxton, Big Love
Kiefer Sutherland, 24

I love Patrick Dempsey. But even his biggest fan would admit that this is a tad undeserved. Thank God Michael C. Hall is on the list though. And I won't object Kiefer, coz he's, well, Kiefer. But I really wonder at the criteria here. I'd have like to see Matthew Perry on this list for Studio 60. And the coach in Friday Night Lights. Please, please get some imagination.

Best Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Desperate Housewives
Entourage
The Office
Ugly Betty
Weeds

Urgggggggh. Desperate Housewives.... Urghhhhhhhhhhhh.

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Marcia Cross, Desperate Housewives
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
Felicity Huffman, Desperate Housewives
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds

Desperate Housewives.... Urgh..................... Where is Jaime Pressly?

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Zach Braff, Scrubs
Steve Carell, The Office
Jason Lee, My Name Is Earl
Tony Shalhoub, Monk

Yes! They nominated Alec Baldwin for 30 Rock!

(Pardon the formatting issues)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

EMILY BLUNT GIDEON’S DAUGHTER
TONI COLLETTE TSUNAMI, THE AFTERMATH
KATHERINE HEIGL GREY’S ANATOMY
SARAH PAULSON STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP
ELIZABETH PERKINS WEEDS

I haven't seen the Made for TV stuff, so I wont comment on that. But Katherine Heigl, who is ridiculously over the top and the most annoying thing about Grey's lately? No way. None of the girls from Big Love?

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

THOMAS HADEN CHURCH BROKEN TRAIL
JEREMY IRONS ELIZABETH I
JUSTIN KIRK WEEDS
MASI OKA HEROES
JEREMY PIVEN ENTOURAGE

Yes! Masi Oka and Jeremy Piven. Yes!

Also, several end-of-the-year, best movie lists are out. Check out Slant's list here, and a list from Ryan Stevens, one of Cinematical's contributers. The Observer has also released a 50 forgotten classics list. My thoughts will follow soon.

Also, Chelsea has won their game, Man Utd lost theirs. India has won the test match versus South Africa. Icicles were seen forming in hell.

Child's Play

The Fan

No, I'm not talking about crappy Robert DeNiro baseball movies. This is something I've been thinking about quite often, the more invested I get in certain tv shows and other media, the more I contemplate the intricacies of fandom, the more certain things start bothering me. These issues have merely been highlighted by reading such sites as Television Without Pity. I love TwoP... and the forums, and its posters are a generally well-informed bunch. But there is such a thing as over-analysis, and becoming so invested that you lose sight of the creator's vision and start imposing yours instead.

The lovely utsusemia wrote an excellent post on the subject. (I haven't asked her if I can link to this, but I hope its alright. And for anyone with any interest in VM fanfic, read her Nightfall, quite possibly the most beautiful work of fanfiction ever.)

"Have you noticed that the more people are obsessed with something, the less they seem to actually like the thing they are obsessed about? I never really experienced this before Harry Potter, but since then I keep noticing this strange "I hate the thing I love" torture going on with alot of fan(girl)s. My first obsessive experience, outside of a book, was in anime, which I'm guessing is a very different sort of thing, mainly because by the time you get obesssed with any anime, the entire show is finished and you just sit back and watch it. I'm thinking that it's the impression of a collaborative experience that you get with an obsession with an ongoing show that brings out the strange "fangirl hate" phenomena. I call it strange because it doesn't really happen to me Call me crazy, but the reason I love the sixth Harry Potter is the same reason I loved the first, and whoever the hell Harry or Ron or Hermione get together with isn't going to change my enjoyment of it. To be clear: I'm not the author. I may be involved emotionally, but it's still not my story."

So. Much. Word.

Of Days Long Past

If I were asked why I haven't been blogging, I could quite honestly say I don't know. Its not that I've been too lazy, because [this time] that really is not the problem. Its not even that I've been (as I can often be) apathetic to it all; there have been many moments in the past few days that I would have liked to record. But, invariably, as a result of letting it go, I can't remember them all now.

Good things have been happening to me lately. I went shopping with my mom after a day when I was feeling a bit... depressed, and boy, there's nothing like retail therapy to restore a girl's spirits. I went to the capitalist paradise that is G.K I M-Block market after ages and ages, and God, was it fun. (Of course, this trip to G.K means I don't want to look at me bank account anymore.) Anyway, I spent ages ooh-ing and aah-ing over the new Puma store (Yay!) and a surprisingly affordable Espirit rust cord jacket (which I didn't buy) and an equally surprisingly unaffordable gorgeous Benetton claret velvety jacket (which, needless to say, I also didn't buy).

Another point of great joy on the day was the purchase of two First Editions, one Graham Greene's The Human Factor and the other was Empire by Gore Vidal. While in the bookstore looking over publication histories, I noticed some of the declarations signed in these books. It's hard to describe what I feel every time I think about that (flashbacks to Serendipity notwithstanding), but I think a sense of nostalgia and history is probably accurate. It felt as if I were holding someone's dreams in my hands, and it made me happy and sad and proud all at once. The yellowed pages, the words written... the Love, Jacinda (or whoever) ... they're a part of someone's memories. Nothing but a book can inspire that kind of emotional connection to a complete stranger, in my opinion.

I have also been watching a movie a day. So much better than having to eat an apple! Anyhow, in the past week or so, I have watched these films: Scoop!, John Tucker Must Die, The Break Up, The Interpreter, In Her Shoes, Equilibrium. With the exception of In Her Shoes, they were all crap. I was especially disappointed by Scoop! which was so bad that even Hugh Jackman couldn't make up for the awfulness. What I really disliked about the film was that Woody Allen couldn't resist inserting himself into the film yet again, and his routine is really unfunny now. Equilibrium, with Christian Bale, was not so much awful as a mish-mash of every seminal SF film over the last 20-30 years. One would be far better off watching the stuff that patently 'inspired' this film, from 1984 to Blade Runner.

Since most of my favorite shows are on hiatus, I'm going to now catch up on other stuff, what everyone swears is fabulous but for some reason or other, I haven't gotten around to it. (Yes, A, I'm talking about the Wire). Also, the arc finale for Veronica Mars means t my love for Logan has reached unhealthy heights now. Sigh...if ONLY he were real!

ETA: I realized I hadn't said anything at all about my absolute anger at PVR for first raising my hopes with a 'Next Change' for the Prestige, and then cruelly deciding to not release it.

Secondly, I have yet to express my views on both The Departed and Casino Royale. I thought the Departed was toe-curlingly good. I haven't been blown away like this at all this year. I also love Scorcese for his use of Puccini. For a review, read this piece, which I [mostly] agree with. A disclaimer: I certainly do not share the love for The Aviator or Gangs of New York.

I watched Casino Royale right after the Departed, which might be why I didn't like it as much as the rest of the world seemed to. However I saw it a second time and it did improve on repeat viewing, but I still don't understand the fuss. My gripe then, and now, is that were it not a James Bond movie, if the protagonist was called Jeremy Smith instead, we would dismiss it as a decent thriller, nothing more, nothing less. And while I was never someone who had a problem with the casting of Daniel Craig as Bond (I love his eyes, so cold and blue) I don't believe he is right for future Bond films. He was good in this movie, no doubt, but I can't see him doing suave as well as he did the thug. I keep thinking someone like Hugh Jackman, who can effortlessly do both (Wolverine, anybody?) would have been a better choice. Things I loved about the movie however, were the opening sequence (which made me visualize a Bond film filmed in black-and-white, nearly causing me to asphyxiate with excitement) and the credit sequence (even though the song was well below-par). The parkour-with-things-exploding-alongside was considerably less adrenaline-thumping that many other parkour sequences seen even on TV (Top Gear).

BTW, I also watched Dhoom 2, in which I lusted after Hrithik Roshan for the first time ever. High on style, low on plot, it was nonetheless a fun film with equal opportunity oogling. As the NY Times put it:

"The pleasure principle is palpable in the giddy, slick ''Dhoom 2,'' a satisfying example of the new, thoroughly modern Bollywood. The film is shot in sharp, primary colors, with sophisticated stunts, exotic location hopping and songs sung partly in English (and available on iTunes no less).... Hrithik Roshan plays Aryan, the ''smartest and coolest thief alive,'' as his police nemesis, Jai (Abhishek Bachchan), enthuses. (Jai to Aryan: ''I like your confidence''; Aryan to Jai: ''I like you.'') And the buffest: at the mere hint of a flamenco beat, Mr. Roshan whips off his shirt."

Heh. And also, some HoYay!

All I Want for Christmas

This is for any friends, family and other kindly souls who feel like gifting me, for being me. Coz I'm so awesome, and all that. And Santa Claus, this goes for you too. Also: this is a Christmas and Birthday wish list, all rolled into one, for easy perusal and reference.

1. An Apple iPod 30 GB.

2. A Nikon D-50.

3. A burgundy red leather coat.

4. The Television without Pity book.

5. The Michael Schumacher Biography (translated, of course)

6. All the usual stuff - A trip to Paris, Moet et Chandon, Chocolates etc etc.

7. A Saxophone. A good one, mind.

8. Television without Pity t-shirts, and a Slacker t-shirt. Preferably the one Logan wears on VM. Like, the actual one.

9. The Complete Friends DVD set - The One with All Ten Seasons.

10. Vintage, Oversized Sunglasses from Valentino or Chanel.

I'll be extremely happy to provide links for purchases online. :)

The Big Game

In important news: Michael Schumacher's approved biography (written by his PR lady, Sabine Kehm) in out, only its in German. Which, you know, I can't read. Guh. No word on translations as yet. The other biography, by Christopher Hilton, is in English. Hopefully I can get my paws on it sooner rather than later.

I know I've titled this post the Big Game, but it could just as easily be called the Beautiful Game. Football is fast filling the void left in my heart by cricket. India's galling performances rankle less and less every day, to the extent I don't care about it anymore except to suggest that maybe they should just stop playing altogether. Or atleast not go to the World Cup next year so as to save some billion Indians from embarrassment. But I suppose no-one cares as long as the BCCI keeps getting richer.

As far away as I want to be from this, I can't help being drawn into the whole Greg Chappelle debate. Which was what led me to make the football comparison: there is NO WAY, and by that I mean a snowball's chance in hell, that Chappelle would still be coach were this a football side. In many situations the disposable nature of the coach is lamentable, because as often as not all the coach needs is time. But if the team in question is one of the giants (i.e. India, here) and the coach has been around for two years with only a steady decline in performance, there is absolutely no doubt that he would've been replaced well before now. I'm even willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he really believes that all the tinkering will eventually come together. But that just means the man has no awareness of whats good and bad in the game of cricket anymore, atleast not beyond his own ego.

Contrast this with two of the most successful current managers in football: Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho. Very different men both, and the way their teams are playing is very different as well. A top of the table clash is always exciting, and Chelsea V. Man Utd had all the makings of a classic, thankfully lacking the edge that makes Arsenal - Man Utd games so mean spirited.

And it was a good game. Though it invariably did not quite live up to the hype, you got see United dominate Chelsea in the first half and then vice versa in the second. My concern that United will ultimately lose out to Chelsea because of Chelsea's depth was demonstrated yesterday by that second half performance. Mourinho's bench strength must be the envy of every Premiership manager right now. Hopefully United can set things right in January when the transfer window opens.

As of now: Kudos to both teams, and may the best man, so to speak, win.