Eclipse

Eclipse is my second favourite book after Twilight in the Twilight series. I finally watched the movie this afternoon (to avoid the long lines that inevitably accompany a Twilight movie during its first week) with the hubby in tow - he now claims that I owe him big time after he sat through the film. In reality, the third installment was actually better than the first 2 - Summit finally appears to be increasing the budget for these films after experiencing the huge returns. However, the third installment is also the one that deviates the most from the book.

In this movie Bella (Kristen Stewart) faces up to the fact that while she belongs with Edward (Robert Pattinson), she definitely has feelings for Jacob (Taylor Lautner) as well. Victoria (the mate of the vampire that the Cullens killed in the first movie/book) wants revenge and decides to go about building an army of newborn vampires to fight the Cullens and achieve her goal of killing Bella. In the meantime Jacob decides to reveal to Bella just exactly how he feels about her - while Bella is deciding between Edward and Jacob, the army of vampires advances to Forks to kill her. Is Bella safe? Does she finally make a choice? That forms the rest of the movie.

The chemistry between Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart appeared to be much better than that between Robert Pattinson and Kristen (however I wonder if there is any truth to the observation made by Joey to Chandler in Friends... if someone is a couple in real life, the chemistry on screen or on stage is not as great) - don't get me wrong, I am completely on Team Edward but I felt Bella and Jacob were more believable. I want Edward and Bella to be more passionate and I don't think the lead couple did that - I feel their performances were too restrained. Edward does look very handsome in this movie. In other Twilight news, they have broken the next movie into 2 parts - that is the best decision because the book is almost 800 pages long and has a lot of material to cover which would be next to impossible in 1 2-hour movie.

So the verdict: you will enjoy this movie if you are a Twilight fan. If you are not acquainted with this series, I would suggest reading all 4 books by Stephenie Meyer and watching the first 2 movies before sitting down to watch this one. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!!

Blast from the Past

This afternoon, I was deciding between a nap and watching a movie and of course movie won. I decided to watch one of the oldies and decided on the amazing casting coup that was Silsila. Silsila is the only movie where reel life sort of imitates real life what with the Jaya-Amit-Rekha triangle being played out on the big screen. But more on that gossip later.

The movie starts out as a story about 2 brothers Shekhar and Amit (played by the handsome Shashi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan) who are very close in age and more friends than brothers. Shekhar is an airforce pilot and is in love with Shobha (Jaya Bhaduri) while Amit is in love with Chandni (a very beautiful Rekha). Shekhar is killed in a plane crash leaving behind a pregnant Shobha... out of a sense of moral duty, Amit gets married to Shobha (these were times when being an unwed mother was the worst taboo ever - it is probably still the case in most of India except for the big cities). This news devastates Chandni who goes on to marry a doctor played by Sanjeev Kumar. Shobha loses the baby - Amit and Shobha who got married for the child now have no reason to really be together - at some level Amit also resents the fact that he had to forget his dreams to be with Shobha. Amit and Chandni then cross paths and despite being married, start having a secret affair. What follows makes up the crux of the movie - will Amit stay with his wife or will he leave her and be reunited with Chandni.

The movie has beautiful songs - some of my faves are the title song "Dekha ek khwab" and "Ye kahan aa gaye hum" and of course the famous "Rang Barse". The movie had me in splits at some scenes where Rekha is jogging looking absolutely glamorous with a scarf to boot and her long hair flowing loose, there was another shot with Amitabh and Rekha jogging together and Amitabh wearing this really tight black pair of shorts - but all in all it was a pleasure to watch the sizzling chemistry between Rekha and Amitabh. We all know that in real life Amitabh stayed with his wife and has never spoken publicly about his rumoured affair with Rekha where as she has been more forthcoming in many interviews and has spoken about her respect for Amitji (she always refers to him as "Him") and the reason I know this is because I was an avid reader of Stardust (India's premier gossip mag in those days) in my teen years. The movie surprisingly flopped at the time of its release - I don't think many people could understand the ending and why the main protagonists did what they did. Yash Chopra achieved a brilliant casting coup with this movie. This was also the last movie that Amitabh and Rekha did together thus ending the iconic reel-life pairing.

Rajneeti

My brother told me that Rajneeti was a mix of the Mahabharata and The Godfather - I decided to see the movie for myself to see how good or bad of a job they had done - and the verdict - not too bad at all. It was a tad too long but kept me engrossed for the most part except that I still cannot quite believe that politics in India is such a dirty business... that may be my naive side talking. I mean I have no illusions that politics is this super clean world but in this movie they take it to the next level - people killing people in cold blood with no remorse at all, barter of personal relationships in the name of politics... basically anything goes - the end justifies the means.

The plot definitely borrows heavily from the Mahabharata with the daughter of a major political figure getting pregnant through a brief affair. In efforts to cover up the scandal, her brother takes the baby and abandons him - the baby grows to be Ajay Devgan whose foster father coincidentally works for his biological mother's family as a driver (Kunti and Karna anyone?) Arjun Rampal and Ranbir play brothers - half brothers of Ajay Devgan (whose character is named Suraj) in the movie who ends up on the opposite side of the political play with their cousin played by Manoj Bajpai. It borrows from The Godfather with the younger son (Ranbir's Samar) who initially is far removed from the family's world of politics and ends up slowly becoming the main player and the brains behind the party despite his older brother being the face of the party. Katrina plays a family friend's daughter Indu, madly in love with Samar. However Samar has a girlfriend in the US and only agrees to marry her to have her father finance their party - her father however wants her to marry the older son because he will be CM. For whatever reason she agrees to the match and marries the older son. It is soon revealed to the family that Samar has a girlfriend and she comes to live with him in India.

As Samar is drawn deeper into the world of lies, cover-ups and deceit that is politics Sarah insists on leaving because she cannot bear to raise her as-yet unborn baby in that environment. Samar decides to leave with her but a bomb sets off (ostensibly set by Suraj and their cousin) and she and the older brother end up dead. Samar is once again required to step up to the task of running the party and the family ends up anointing Indu as the candidate for CM. A lot of blood and gore later, the movie ends with Indu becoming Chief Minister and Samar deciding to go back to the US leaving behind the murky world of politics.

On the whole, the movie was pretty decent but I found it a tad too long and all this without the usual unnecessary songs that usually make up a typical Hindi movie. Some of the scenes in the movie were unintentionally hilarious - there is a scene in the hospital where Samar's uncle ends up having a heart attack and they are trying to use the defibrillator and it is just hilarious - I have watched enough ER and Grey's Anatomy to know at least how the process should look and this movie did it no justice at all. The nurse just barely touched the paddles to him. An added bonus was that I watched the movie with the sub-titles on and the translation was atrocious. I honestly believe that reading the sub-titles is more entertaining than the movie these days.

All the characters do a decent job overall - I liked Katrina Kaif better in this movie than all her movies with Akshay Kumar. Ranbir Kapoor did a good job as usual. It's now expected of him. Arjun Rampal is getting much better as an actor... he is finally leaving behind his modeling days and his non-actor label :) Manoj Bajpai and Ajay Devgan were good too. There was nobody in the main cast that let their characters down.

I would say this is a DVD watch because you can forward through a few scenes rather than sitting through the whole thing. Some scenes are very violent but what is a hindi movie without some masala...

American Idol - the end of an era

Blogging after a long long time. All in honor of Simon Cowell and as Ryan Seacrest put it, "The End of an Era" on American Idol. Today saw Lee Dewayze crowned as the American Idol over the judge fave Crystal Bowersox. More importantly, today marked the last time Simon Cowell sits on the judging panel of American Idol.

Kris Allen opened the show - am sad to say I still don't know why he won over Adam Lambert - he was good but I must admit that I fast forwarded through most of it. That performance was followed by all the judges poking fun at Mr. Cowell - they brought Paula back for a bit - it was fun to see her again. Siobhan and Aaron sang "How deep is your love" and were joined by the 2 remaining Bee Gees - it was awesome to see the 4 share the stage - I loved the performance for the most part (except for where all 4 them sang the line how deep is your love - there was something wrong in the way they sounded - like someone was off-key). But I loved seeing the Bee Gees singing again. Big Mike took the stage once more singing with Michael McDonald - over the season I must say that I have taken a strong dislike to Big Mike - not sure whether it was one of my colleagues who absolutely hated him or if I developed it on my own but I just cannot stand him all smug on the stage. Dane Cook followed that up with all the insults Simon has delivered over the years... as a nice touch they brought some of the AI rejects back on stage - things got a bit crazy there as people fought for the mike and I can almost imagine the producers' panic as they went to commercial break.

The top 6 girls performed "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera... they were joined by the lady herself for the second song "Stronger" - she also sang a number from her new album. She was good - there were no gimmicks - it was just her and the mike - and boy did she sing her heart out!! I don't always like Christina's songs but there's no denying her talent - there will never be any lip-syncing here. Ricky Gervais dropped in via satellite - he was funny as expected. The top 6 guys then took the stage - am not sure what song they sang... it was a treat to see Casey on stage again singing "she's a maneater" - the boy is cute :) They were joined by Daryl Hall and John Oats (I admit I had to look up their names on the Internet). They brought a dash of the 80s with them. It's awesome to see the newbies sharing the stage with veteran artists. Crystal sang one of my favourite songs Ironic and was joined by the original songstress Alanis Morisette - it was fun to watch them together on stage - you could tell that they were having a blast. Don't see Alanis enough!! Carrie Underwood performed next - am not sure I liked it very much - it was just okay for me (maybe I'm channeling Simon :))Ford gave the 2 finalists their own Ford Fiestas. Casey shared the stage with Brett Michaels next - they looked like they had fun jamming with their guitars. At this point my DVR has caught up with the live telecast - bummer - have to watch all the ads now...

Lee performed a medley with the band Chicago... Lee looked like he belonged. I think he has a long career ahead of him. From selling paints to sharing the stage with Chicago - he has come a long way. Pants on the ground was back... right after a funny Simon snippet. I know what I am going to be humming all day tomorrow - Pants on the ground... he was joined by - surprise surprise - William Hung (yes of "She bangs" fame). Paula reminisced about Simon and their friendship on video. Then she was on stage looking more coherent that she ever has before. It was great to see Kelly Clarkson on stage with Reuben, Fantasia, Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks, Taylor Hicks (remember him?), Kris Allen (no David Cook surprisingly) and a number of other Idol contestants. Janet Jackson joined this season's Idol contestants after Simon's speech. Her soft crooning initially reminded me of Michael Jackson... she looked fabulous - I don't think this woman ages. She got a standing ovation from the audience when she was done.

Lee and Crystal shared the stage one final time singing "with a little help from my friends" - I have always loved this song - never knew who the original singer was and today he shared the stage with Crystal and Lee - Joe Cocker - they were awesome. Then there was nothing left to do but crown the new reigning Idol - in another American Idol upset, Lee won over Crystal. This season was by far the worst in Idol history. And now Simon is gone too. I'm not sure I am going to be tuning in next season but all said and done I absolutely loved this finale tonight. I did however lose my office pool :(

That was one long post - phew!!!!!!! Good night!!

Parenthood - the new kid on the block

And I just love it - NBC's new drama Parenthood airs on Tuesday nights at 10/9 C. The show tracks the life of The Braverman family and is set in the Bay area. The show follows the trials and tribulations of the 4 Braverman siblings - Sarah (Lauren Graham), Adam (played by the delectable Peter Krause), Crosby (Dax Shepard) and Julia (Erika Christensen).

Sarah is a single mother of 2 who has moved back with her parents bringing her 2 children (Mae Whitman plays the daughter - I remember her from One Fine Day) in tow. She basically has to restart her life and build a stable home for her teens who are dealing with a lot themselves. What I love about her character is that she is not afraid to fight for her kids - she goes head to head with her brother when he fails to be there for her son. It's a little hard to see her as anything other than Lorelai Gilmore but I am glad to see her on the small screen again.

Adam and his wife (played by Monica Potter) have 2 kids - one of whom has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. As they slowly get over the shock of Max's diagnosis and learn to deal with his needs, their 15-year old daughter Haddie is discovering first love and all the tumultuous feelings that go with it much to the horror of her father. Peter Krause is as handsome as ever - I really really like him :) (no offense hubby). The casting director did a good job casting this family - for example the daughter Haddie actually does look like a mix of Peter Krause and Monica Potter.

Crosby, the happy go lucky sibling, has to grow up quickly when he discovers his long lost 5 year old son Jabar. As Crosby gets over his initial misgivings related to his son, it's fun to see him embrace fatherhood with somewhat comical (at times heartwarming) results.

Julia (probably my least fave of the cast) is the complete opposite of Sarah - there is some sisterly rivalry there. Her husband is a stay at home dad to their daughter - the main thorn in Julia's life is another stay at home mom who she suspects is interested in more than just friendship with her husband - this would not normally be a big problem except for the fact that their daughters are best friends and constantly thrown together.

The Braverman grandparents (played by Craig T Nelson and Bonnie Bedelia) provide loving support to their family while at the same time dealing with their marital troubles...

What I love about this show, aside from the fabulous cast, is the warmth and strong family ties this series portrays. The family is there for each other come what may - they are the best of friends but at the same time sibling rivalry exists in the relationships especially between the 2 sisters. There's something about large close-knit families that is universally appealing (especially perhaps because I am so far away from my immediate family) and I love being an onlooker as the Braverman family ploughs through challenges and enjoys good times together. So if you find yourself with an opening for a TV show on Tuesday nights this is it. Set your DVR or watch it live and enjoy!! It's only a few episodes old, so if you want to catch up you can watch full episodes at www.nbc.com

American Idol is back!! Yay!!!!!!

Tonight, after a long long time, I felt that it was really a competition and that people were making an effort to stand out... which of course was the case for most because only the top 10 Idol contestants get to go on tour and it would completely suck to be the 11th man (or woman). Tonight's theme was the Billboard's No: 1 hits through the years.

Lee Dewayze was good but not great when he opened the night with The Letter. It was then followed by Paige singing Against all odds (a bit ho-hum unfortunately - I felt a little bad for her as she stood there being completely battered by the judges). This was followed by Tim Urban singing Crazy Little Thing called Love - he will stay I think because he has his finger (firmly I might add) on the teen vote unless his teen audience also could not stand that performance. I personally thought Paige was a bit worse than Tim was. Then the competition really began with Aaron Kelly belting out Aerosmith's Don't Wanna Miss a Thing - he did a decent job despite his tonsillitis and laryngitis. Aaron is never ever pitchy or out of tune but tonight he was in a couple of places and I hope his fans vote for him to stay because he is one of the best vocally. Crystal Bowersox wowed the judges again with Janis Joplin's Bobby McGee. I thought she was good but not great... I think it's also some of the "halo effect" taking place - where someone does a couple great things and then everything that follows is just great whether or not it really is - again I am not saying she was bad by any means but just that I wasn't as euphoric as the judges were.

Andrew Garcia was completely thrashed by the judges for his performance a Marvin Gaye song. He may also be in danger of going home tomorrow - he was fabulous when he sang Straight Up during his audition but for some reason has been unable to recapture that star moment. Katie Stevens sang Big Girls Don't Cry - she began very strong but I didn't much like it as the song continued - she probably sings most out of tune of all the contestants... The judges were surprisingly happy with her but I am still not a fan. Oh and I forgot to mention Big Mike singing When a Man Loves a woman and he did a fine job but didn't get much love from the judges because he didn't take any risks. Casey (the boy is cute and can sing - I'm becoming a fan) sang The Power of Love. I liked him - he is one of the few that is consistently good. Simon was mean to him but methinks he was completely wrong!! Didi is another gal I really like - I was considering her in my top 3 for the office pool at one point but she sang You're No Good tonight and didn't earn any fans among the judges. I actually liked it - she reminds me of Brooke from last season. My favourite this season, Siobhan Magnus was GOOD. She sang Superstition and was really good... but again failed to win Simon's heart... but what I like about her is that she reminds me of Adam Lambert in that she is not afraid of taking risks... at the same time, I would like to see her not rely on the high note and sing a mellow song for a change.

Miley Cyrus was surprisingly good as a mentor on the show... initially I was a bit skeptical that Hannah Montana was giving the singers tips but she was actually good and spot on with her comments about a few of the contestants like Lee and Crystal. And I just have to say - what is with Kara - for the last 2 episodes, she is practically sitting in Simon's lap and simpering and purring like a kitten... even Ellen said something to the effect that Kara is married and Simon is engaged so she didn't know what was going on... watch out Kara's husband!!

Shutter Island - Leo's best?

My brother, who was visiting, and I went to watch Shutter Island. I love suspenseful movies, thrillers, mysteries - bring it on. The hubby on the other hand hates this genre of film which is why I was glad to have some company to watch it with.

Shutter Island is not a horror movie as the trailers will have you believe. It's more a psychological thriller. I will try to review this movie without giving the ending away. It starts with 2 Marshals played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo, who arrive by sea, to Shutter Island. Shutter Island is a mental institution for the criminally insane - a heavily guarded place, surrounded by rocks and gun-toting guards - virtually impossible to escape. However the Marshalls Ted Daniels (Leo) and Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) are at the island to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a patient called Rachel, who we are told, drowned and killed her 3 children. Due to a sudden storm, the 2 marshals are forced to stay overnight at the facility run by Dr. Cawley played by Ben Kingsley. In the interest of retaining the suspense factor of the movie, I will not write more but suffice it to say that things start getting a bit crazy (pun unintended) - will the 2 marshals find Rachel and get out of Shutter Island despite all odds? Where is Rachel and how did she get out of a locked room? To get the answers to these questions, you have to watch the movie!

This is quite possibly the best acting by Leonardo DiCaprio I have ever seen - even in his Titanic days I couldn't see the appeal so suffice it to say that I was not too big a fan of his. However this movie convinced me of his acting chops! He was fabulous. Mark Ruffalo - he's another actor who has never got his due. He is the most understated actor I have seen (something about him reminds me of Abhay Deol... not sure why... maybe it's his mouth - but I digress). He does a great job supporting Leo. Ben Kingsley is not required to display his superior acting skills in this movie. Martin Scorsese does a wonderful job holding up the suspense throughout the movie although I must admit that I found the movie a tad too long (now was it really too long or was it my growling stomach, I don't know). My brother and I also kind of guessed the ending around three quarters into the film. That said, I enjoyed myself thoroughly and it has filled my "suspense movie craving" for now (I needed it more than ever after watching Paranormal Activity which was not scary in the least bit - I'm not sure why people were so impressed with it but that is another review).

I recommend watching it if you have the opportunity.