New Moon does not disappoint

As one of my birthday gifts, the hubby took me to watch New Moon this afternoon - he is well versed with my earlier obsession with the Twilight series (and I say earlier because I don't think I am as obsessed as I once was - it's a much more toned down version of how I felt when I had just read the books and I know this because I am not constantly trolling youtube for interviews with the cast - I still think Robert Pattinson is super adorable though) and decided to make the "sacrifice" and watch the movie with me.

That it would be better than Twilight was never a question - from the trailers itself, one could tell that it was much better crafted and had a bigger budget than the first movie. The make up was much better, the direction too (sorry Catherine Hardwick) as well as the script (Melissa Rosenberg's second script for the series). The script is the real hero of this movie because the book itself is one of the worst books in the Twilight series for me at least and the movie could have been really bad and sappy but the script moved the movie forward at an even pace and kept me engaged throughout.

This movie is by no means going to be a critically acclaimed film or win any awards (besides the MTV and People's Choice ones where avid fans will make sure that it wins a few accolades) but it left me pleasantly surprised. In a nutshell, the second installment in the series is about Bella Swan (played by Kristen Stewart) who is dumped by her vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen (played by Robert Pattinson) for her own safety because he truly believes that Bella will be better off without him and the dangers that lurk around by default when one hangs out with vampires. She gets swept into a deep depression over her break up - enter Jacob (her best friend and werewolf) who helps her through it and rekindles her interest in life. Will Edward come back? Will Jacob and Bella be together? That is the crux of the film. In the process we get introduced to the wolf pack and the Volturi (the most powerful vampires and lawmakers in the supernatural world).

Of the cast, Dakota Fanning and Michael Sheen did a bang up job. They were fabulous and creepy at the same time. Robert Pattinson was not in the movie too much and when he was on screen he was adequately good - Kristen Stewart also did a believable job as Bella. Taylor Lautner did a good job and was appropriately buff to pull off his werewolf alter ego. I am still undecided as to whether all 3 are good actors though. Hopefully I will have made up my mind by movie 3. That said, I have to note that they were not bad by any means and much better than they were in Twilight.

My recommendation is to definitely watch it if you have read the books. I am not sure how enjoyable it would be if you are not familiar with the books, the story and the characters.

Nine on Oprah

Not sure if everyone is aware of this but the maker of the fabulous Chicago movie is coming out with yet another musical extravaganza called Nine. The cast of Nine reads like a who's who in Hollywood - the esteemed cast is led by 2 time Oscar winner Daniel Day Lewis, Oscar winner Nicole Kidman, Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, Oscar winner Penelope Cruz, Oscar nominee Kate Hudson, Oscar winner Dame Judi Dench, Oscar winnder Sophia Loren and Grammy winner Fergie (I wasn't kidding when I said it read like a Hollywood who's who).

The cast (Marion, Nicole, Kate and Penelope along with Daniel Day Lewis) visited Oprah and I thoroughly enjoyed their little tete-a-tete with the queen of daytime. Everyone looked ravishing except for Penelope - am not sure who chose her frumpy dress but on the flip side she more than made up for it by just being her charming self. Daniel Day Lewis - can't say enough about him. I remember watching The Last of the Mohicans and being completely taken in by his character in the film - a fabulous talented actor that words cannot do justice to. He revealed that he can fix shoes and can make furniture - who knew!! Nicole Kidman - as pretty as ever - I swear the woman never ages... is it nature or botox - who knows? They showed a few snippets from the movie and it was hard to believe that she had apparently done the movie a few weeks after having her baby. The unfortunately dressed Penelope talked about playing the sultry mistress and admitted to being terrified of singing and the complex dance moves. She has done this fabulous number with ropes and pink satin - she looks absolutely gorgeous... (it just struck me that Penelope dated Tom Cruise right after his divorce from Nicole Kidman when they worked together on Vanilla Sky... wonder how uncomfortable/awkward the first meeting and shooting was).

Marion Cotillard was as luminous as ever and so expressive - can't imagine how much more she could have conveyed in this interview if she had a better command over the language - don't get me wrong - she was fabulous and heartfelt. They showed a snippet of her song and she has a lovely voice. I also had no idea Kate Hudson could sing. She may have a backup career lined up. She was her usual bubbly self - definitely Goldie Hawn's daughter :). She did not reveal much despite Oprah's probing - must say I have a lot more respect for Kate Hudson for standing up to the talk show God; and she did it in a very very charming manner - she absolutely refused to go into it other than saying that she was happy - kudos to her.

Here's a link to the show's synopsis. Am looking forward to watching this movie (now to find a way to drag hubby to it ;)) - am usually not a huge fan of musicals but am definitely making an exception to watch this one.

My Sunday - all 'Fired Up'

This morning the hubby and I were flipping through channels and chanced upon 'Fired Up' - I wasn't sure that I wanted to watch another almost but not quite teen movie but we watched it anyway and I must say that it was surprisingly good.

The plot is all about 2 football jocks Shawn and Nick (played by Nicholas D'Agusto and Eric Christian Olsen) who hatch a fool-proof plan to meet girls and brighten their prospects, so to speak, by entering Cheer leading camp. While the plot is a bit cliched with their team being the underdogs and the boys actually bringing with them some much needed spirit and attitude to brighten their chances at the competition, the dialogue is very witty and better than most other teen movies I've seen. Of course the movie ends with the good guy getting the girl and the team not finishing up in last place as they've been wont to do in the past (which was another refreshing change from the run-of-the-mill movie ending which would have seen them finish in top spot).

I actually loved the chemistry between the 2 boys who play friends - their comic timing and dialogue delivery were on the mark. The crazy coach and the other men at cheer leading camp provided comic relief as well. On the whole, worth a watch if you are looking for a light but very funny comedy. As is my blogging tradition, here are some of my favourite lines from the movie:

Nick Brady: Hiya Dick.
Dr. Rick: It's Rick!
Nick Brady: Ah, sorry, I don't know why I keep doing that. You just look like such a Dick to me.

Nick Brady: [reading her nametag] Diora? I believe that's Italian for 'beautiful princess'.
Diora: No.
Nick Brady: Well it should be, I'm calling the dictionary people.

Dr. Rick: [after Downey punches Dr. Rick in the face] I hope one of you ends up in my ER one day, bleeding. I'll make you wait for days. Unless one of you has Blue Cross. That's a PPO, none of that HMO bullshit!

Dr. Rick: [holding up his hands] If these weren't tools for healing, I would crack you in the jaw.
Nick Brady: YOU'RE a tool for healing.

Coach Keith: Mediocrity deserves an applause - why don't we find a Ford Focus and clap around it?

Dr. Rick: You should get that mole checked out. I'd do it myself, but I don't have my bag on me.
Shawn Colfax: Your book bag?

Nick Brady: Do not poop where you eat, remember? That's why there are no restaurants called "The Bathroom."

Talk show moments

I am a fan of a good talk show - I enjoy seeing the stars being their "natural" selves - well as natural as tinsel town would allow. Talk shows also make for interesting moments in pop culture history. I thought I would dedicate this post to some famous (and not so famous) talk show moments since I've been watching...

1. Tom Cruise and the couch - I don't think anyone that watched this a couple years ago will forget the exuberance and craziness that was Tom Cruise on Oprah's couch as he proclaimed his love for Katie Holmes. I truly believe that his overdone enthusiasm really hurt his image of being this larger than life movie star. This is one instance where I actually wish I didn't have to see this side of him and that he would have retained some of the movie star mystique.

2. Sherri Shepard claiming that the world is not round - This was probably one of the most ridiculous things I've heard on a talk show - you can see Joy Behar openly laughing in the clip. Enough said! And yet (well clearly not enough said) - she probably makes thousands of dollars per episode of The View.

3. Joaquin Phoenix on David Letterman - Another ridiculous TV show appearance - I am not sure if Joaquin was high on something during this interview but I'm yet to sit through a more painful interview.

4. Chris Matthews groping Ellen - Ellen always asks her guests to dance - but I am sure she didn't see this coming. I have never laughed harder than when I caught this on my DVR - it was CRRRAZZY.

5. Sarah Silverman and Matt Damon - A completely novel concept - thoroughly enjoyed by all; which led to this response by Jimmy Kimmel that had so many stars doing a cameo.

These were the top 5 moments that came to my mind - if you have any to share leave the link!!

In the spirit of Halloween...

It being Halloween and all, I decided to watch a movie in the thriller/horror/ghost genre this weekend. Lifetime Movie Network (yes - one of my guilty pleasures) did not disappoint. I watched this tiny movie called 'Dorothy Mills' starring Carice Van Houten, Jean Murray and David Wilmont. Now there are a very few ghost movies that actually tie together at the end, most just end up with a very flimsy ending that doesn't completely satisfy the viewer. But I am glad to say that this one did a good job from beginning to end.

The movie begins in a small little island off the coast of New England (and this is purely a guess on my part because I wasn't paying too much attention at the beginning of the flick) in a very closely knit community where a young girl is accused of physically abusing the child she was baby sitting for. The girl is Dorothy Mills (played by Jean Murray) and she maintains her innocence claiming that she wasn't there even though she was caught red-handed by the child's parents. Enter a very pretty Carice Van Houten as the psychiatrist Jane sent by the courts to assess Dorothy Mills' mental state. The viewer is led to guess that Jane is dealing with her very own personal tragedy involving her young son seen mainly in photos. Jane reaches the town and is almost immediately drawn into the strange goings on in the little hamlet. At first she believes that Dorothy is suffering from a multiple personality disorder but as she digs deeper she finds links to a terrible tragedy that took place in the town a few years ago.

The pace of the movie is taut (good direction by Agnès Merlet) and the story progresses rapidly to it's unexpected conclusion. All characters play their parts believably. Jean Murray is especially good in switching between the vulnerable Dorothy Mills and the various other ghosts haunting her. Carice Van Houten delivers a restrained but powerful performance as the stranger in town trying to decipher the mystery in front of her. All in all a great movie by Lifetime standards and a good movie by any other :P

Some of the better ghost/horror movies I've seen are The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Omen (who can help getting chilled to the bone by demon spawn Damien?), and one of the very first movies I saw as a youngster that introduced me to this genre - The Exorcist. Leave me some of your favourites so I can add to my collection!! Boo!

What's your rashee - what was Ashu thinking?

Despite all the bad reviews (or maybe because of them) regarding What's your rashee a few friends and I were curious to see the movie - we bullied our respective spouses into agreeing to watch the flick - Blue being their choice clearly (not sure that Blue is a better movie but that is another review). And boy did we regret it!! 3 hours of my life that I am not going to get back (and it was 3 hours only because we watched all the songs and some of the scenes in fast forward mode).

The movie starts with an astrologer predicting that the younger son of a Gujrati family will get married by the 20th of that month. The older son has borrowed money from a few shady characters and is in over his head when the family hears that their wealthy grandfather will turn over his entire property to the younger son upon his wedding. This is a further impetus for the family to pressurize their son to come to India and opt for an arranged marriage. The boy (played by Harman Baweja) agrees to meet 12 different girls (all played by Priyanka) but from each sign of the zodiac and choose his life partner from among one of them. The story then progresses with Priyanka Chopra essaying each of the 12 different roles. The biggest letdown is the completely weak storyline and non-existent script. That is then compounded by all the background noise in the form of unnecessary background stories of how much in debt the older brother is, the matchmaker uncle who is also cheating on his wife and the million songs. While the songs are certainly very pleasant and hummable there are just way too many of them thereby prolonging a very weak and flimsy plot.

I wonder if Ashutosh realized in the middle of making this movie just how bad it was going to be and had no other option but to finish it despite his misgivings. I cannot believe that this was made by the same director who gave us Lagaan and Swades. The portrayals of the 12 different zodiacs is very cliched and some of the characters are reduced to downright caricatures. Harman is okay. The good thing is that he no longer seems to be trying to ape Hrithik Roshan (a la Love Story 2050). Must say, the future is not looking too bright for Mr. Baweja. Priyanka is okay as well. I remember watching an interview with her where they were talking about how she has still not come across the role of a lifetime - similar to what Pakeezah was for Meena Kumari or Umrao Jaan was for Rekha - and sadly if she was pinning her hopes on this movie, this is definitely not it.

So the verdict (if it is not already crystal clear from the paragraphs up above), give this movie a miss unless you really have nothing else to do with 4 hours of your time.

Happy Diwali

Today's post has nothing to do with TV - but just wanted to wish all my readers a very very Happy Diwali. For those who have never heard of it, Diwali (or Deepavali) is the age-old Indian festival of lights (also known as deep) - it signifies the triumph of good over evil. Indians celebrate this festival by a few rounds of Diwali cleaning leading up to the day (where one's home is cleaned from top to bottom in preparation of this auspicious day), buying new clothes, performing Lakshmi puja (Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth), bursting firecrackers with friends and family and making and sharing sweets and other mouth-watering delicacies.

I was chatting with one of my friends this afternoon about Diwalis of the past - we were reminiscing about some of our age-old traditions such as wearing new dresses and visiting friends' and neighbours' homes exchanging sweets and savouries. Those were the good old days when we would wake up at the crack of dawn, have an oil bath and get ready to burst some firecrackers with friends and family. This was usually followed by a visit to the temple - followed by a long line of deliveries of homemade sweets to neighbours' homes - as kids it was usually our task to carry a tray laden with food to our neighbours' homes and wish them and wait while they unloaded our food and filled it with food made at their place and this continued pretty much all morning until we had made the rounds of all close family friends. This was followed by a bout of phone calls to wish people far away. I waited eagerly for this festival because we would have a break from school with no exams to worry about and Diwali usually fell around November which meant my birthday was only a few days away - so it was always good!! Going shopping for Diwali was always a great bonus.

Cut to the US and during my days in Houston, Diwali would come and go and we really wouldn't do much out there. That has changed for the better here in California since we are surrounded by a huge Indian community (not that the Houston Indian community is any less but for some reason I was less involved in it) and friends who would make it a point to meet up and enjoy some of the local programs put up by the local Indian community at the nearby temples and community centers. This Diwali brings with it a host of nostalgic memories and hope and optimism for the future. Happy Diwali to us all!!