It's been some while since I wrote anything at all - on this blog and otherwise. Partly because I didn't have the time and partly because there isn't practically nothing to write about. Just the other day, I was discussing with a friend about the direction our lives would take (or could take, if you wish) . What followed was what I had not expected really. We didn't have to think too hard to arrive at the answer. Maybe this is because this is what we always aimed to do - Reducing any amount of uncertainty from our lives. All that effort and all that blood and sweat so as to rid our lives of that element of the unkown. Now it seems a little too overdone to be truthful. From where I stand currently, I can see my life (give or take some) as it is going to unfold before me. I take it as not being a very pleasant situation. Anyway, it's been a couple of days (four to be exact) since my mid terms got over. Over this short period of four days, I have seen about 10 movies and downloaded about twenty new songs-many of which sung by artists (or bands, if you like) I had never heard of before. The movies I saw include Almost Famous, Dazed and Confused, Wedding Crashers, My Bollywood Bride, Baaton Baaton Mein, School of Rock, and around five more, naming which I can see now is pretty inconsequential anyway. Of these, the one that enamoured me the most was Almost Famous. Strangely enough, I always assumed I had seen this movie somewhile back in the past. Apparently I was under the impression that it starred Drew Barrymore, who plays an obese girl or something like that. As I am writing this, I think I remember that was Never Been Kissed. Anyway, Almost Famous is a beautifully done movie. Some of the dialogues are really amazing as is most of the screenplay. You might say it is another feel good movie and so what's so special about that. To that I would say that this is one of those rare feel good movies where at least the characters - if not the screenplay- seem plausible. William Miller, the name of the character who plays the teenaged Rock journalist writing for Rolling Stone comes across as a shy, protected kid who knows he is not one of them. Kate Hudson, in her role as Penny Lane, is all class. I guess she gets this from her mother, the legendary Goldie Hawn. I guess the chemistry between the charcters of William Miller and Penny Lane is much more apparent rather than that between Penny and Russel Hammond, the lead guitarist of Stillwater - the band that William Miller interviews for Rolling Stone. Overall the movie is quite heavy emotionally and, yes, preachy in some instances - but there's nothing that you can't nod and pass off. I have my reasons to be biased in the favour of the movie as the characters in the movies talk about both my favourite book and my favourite music - them being To Kill a Mocking Bird and Simon & Garfunkel respectively.
Another one that caught my eye and some of my imagination is this movie that one of my friends on campus recommended - Dazed and Confused. This one is about the last day of High School. Yeah, I can see you rolling your eyes and shrugging your shoulders saying, "Big deal. They have been making those movies ever since the camera first rolled." Agreed. It has all the works of a typical high school movie. The bullies, the sex, the girls, the drugs, the 'token black guy', the football, and the quarterback who couldn't care less about the game. But this movie is different from the cliches you might have in mind. Firstly, they don't try and make a story out of a setting when there exists none. This transforms the movie into a collection of anecdotes from the last day of chool, where nothing great happened-just regular high school stuff. Yes, there are people smoking pot, there is the odd drunken brawl, and there is the odd kissing scene. But all of it is in a remarkably real setting. So, nobody dies in this movie. There is no white guy who is a 'racist pig'. There is nobody who is preaching his lungs out to the audience about what to do and what not to do with one's life. This makes it a really pleasant movie to watch. It is wierd sometimes how not having a story can work wonders. Speaking of which, I believe, all of us have similar lives where we would like to have a story to tell where there isn't any. At least I would. But then there are certain times, like right after I watched this movie for the second time in succession, when I feel that not having a story is the best thing that could happen. I would save that for later since this is by far the longest post I have ever written, and I am bored. Also, I have a class today morning at 9:45.
This was fun though :).
Another one that caught my eye and some of my imagination is this movie that one of my friends on campus recommended - Dazed and Confused. This one is about the last day of High School. Yeah, I can see you rolling your eyes and shrugging your shoulders saying, "Big deal. They have been making those movies ever since the camera first rolled." Agreed. It has all the works of a typical high school movie. The bullies, the sex, the girls, the drugs, the 'token black guy', the football, and the quarterback who couldn't care less about the game. But this movie is different from the cliches you might have in mind. Firstly, they don't try and make a story out of a setting when there exists none. This transforms the movie into a collection of anecdotes from the last day of chool, where nothing great happened-just regular high school stuff. Yes, there are people smoking pot, there is the odd drunken brawl, and there is the odd kissing scene. But all of it is in a remarkably real setting. So, nobody dies in this movie. There is no white guy who is a 'racist pig'. There is nobody who is preaching his lungs out to the audience about what to do and what not to do with one's life. This makes it a really pleasant movie to watch. It is wierd sometimes how not having a story can work wonders. Speaking of which, I believe, all of us have similar lives where we would like to have a story to tell where there isn't any. At least I would. But then there are certain times, like right after I watched this movie for the second time in succession, when I feel that not having a story is the best thing that could happen. I would save that for later since this is by far the longest post I have ever written, and I am bored. Also, I have a class today morning at 9:45.
This was fun though :).
