Happy Wednesday!!!! I had a very exciting morning. I woke up early and decided to try to drive into the city from Wisconsin before work instead of after, since the traffic would be so much easier. So, I rushed around closing windows and locking doors and putting away kayaks and walking dogs and then leaped in the car. Drove the highway route and went super super fast, and then WAS STILL LATE FOR WORK! Because my parents’ neighborhood has NO PARKING!!!! But now, finally, I am in my bedroom/office at my parents all settled.
I’ll start!
Reading: I’m reading Wodehouse! A Wodehouse I have NEVER READ. I am very proud of my intellectualness. But I am also thinking about reading the Madeline books. My friend with a 3 year old was just discussing them with me and I realized I only know the one where she goes to the hospital. Perhaps it is time to catch up on the whole Madeline series? Learn about Nuns and France and stuff?
Watching: Miss Fisher’s Modern Mysteries. SO GOOD! I honestly like it better than the original Miss Fisher series. The original had our heroine being rich and sophisticated and knowing how to do everything and mature and cool in the 1920s. This sequel series has her long lost niece who left school at 15 and bounced around trying everything and is getting used to her inheritance and her new life and figuring things out. Also, 1960s music > 1920s music.
Thinking: I spent the past week up at the lake house and every day I did at least 15 minutes of heavy exercise in bright sunshine and I felt sooooooooooooooo much better about everything. What are the chances I can keep up that “15 minutes in bright sunshine” routine while in the city? I should at least try though, SUCH a difference!
Listening: I’m gonna make my friends watch “99 Songs” tonight!!!! I don’t know if this song could really bring about World Peace, but it is certainly pretty.
Question for you! For Imtiaz’s birthday, rank all his films! Here’s my list:
- Jab Harry Met Sejal
- Love Aaj Kal 2
- Socha Na tha
- Jab We Met
- Highway
- Love Aaj Kal
- Rockstar
- Tamasha
dontcallitbollywood 
Jab we met would be my top pick. The rest of his movies were all meh for me.
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Even Socha Na Tha? I find it so similar to Jab We Met, like the rawer rough draft.
On Wed, Jun 16, 2021 at 9:33 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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While I liked the idea of it, I found it a bit bland, I guess? I just know I stopped watching sometime around the Goa trip. Does it get better after that?
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I think it does!!!! Like I said, it’s really similar to Jab We Met. The Goa trip is like when Shahid leaves Kareena in Shimla, the story goes a lot of places after that.
On Wed, Jun 16, 2021 at 9:55 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Here is my list. It is based on the Imtiaz movies that I would like to rewatch the most to least (so not objective at all). So, for example, I consider Love Aaj Kal 2 and Highway to be really great movies but they take way too much out of me to watch again.
Love Aaj Kal
Jab Harry Met Sejal
Socha Na tha
Jab We Met
Love Aaj Kal 2
Highway
Tamasha
Rockstar
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YES! THANK YOU! Socha Na Tha over Jab We Met! I enjoy it so much more. It’s sexier, it’s funnier, it even has better music.
On Wed, Jun 16, 2021 at 12:09 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Jab Harry Met Sejal
Jab We Met
Love Aaj Kal 2
Socha Na tha
Tamasha and Laila Majnu (I know he didn’t direct it but he wrote it and it’s 100% imitaz movie for me)
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Down down in the hell where it belongs: Rockstar
I haven’t seen Love Aaj Kal and Highway
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Wait, does this mean you like Tamasha???? How has this never come up before????
On Wed, Jun 16, 2021 at 12:30 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I wouldn’t say I like it, but I also didn’t hate it. Being honest I found it confusing and I think Ranbir’s acting was quite bad because I didn’t know what he wanted and what is going on really. But Deepika was awesome and I liked some of the parts of the film and the soundtrack.
Just like Laila Manju: I like some parts, I love the music, Avinash’s acting, but the ending is awful and stupid.
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Watching/Listening: Cécilia Cara’s new MV for the French (with some Spanish) song MAMA TERRE. It is so good!!! Thanks largely to her I’ve gone to listen to French Pop, which is so good! Very catchy and her album PARIS-BOGOTA is just PERFECT summer listening, full of happy dance kind of songs.
Like, I know French because I’ve studied it for years (add to the love of French musicals, which help that fact), but you can easily like the songs even if you don’t know a lick of French, but translations are easy to find in the description box on the official/first video for the song. There is also a lot of Spanish there for a few choruses or a full song because Cécilia is a fan of Latin music.
Am I plugging her because I love her music? Yes, also her songs are just plain fun and her voice is DIVINE!
Imtiaz Ali movies:
1. Jab Harry Met Sejal
2. Highway
3. Love Aaj Kal 2
4. Socha Na Tha
5. Jab We Met
6. Love Aaj Kal
7. Tamasha
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HELL: Rockstar
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I finished Panipat! Yay for me.
Arjun is beautiful and does his best, Gashmeer Mahajani is gorgeous, Kriti is awesome and is the light of the movie, the costumes are great . I really liked how the battle was filmed, it was made for a big screen. What a pity the rest of the movie is terribly boring! There is almost no drama or human relations, just the bunch of guys coming from one king to another asking for help for almost 3 hours. In the end there is a battle, everybody dies, and it’s over. Oh, and of course the Marathas are all genteel and good, and the Muslims are uncouth and violent.
I would say skip the movie, but watch this song which is very good and catchy and has all the good things (Arjun, Kriti, Gashmeer and costumes)
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Oh no. I definitely will not watch it, because of what you said but also because of that absolutely unacceptable hair. Nobody warned me about this??? I can’t look at that for three hours, no matter how much I love Kriti.
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I have watched parts of it just for Kriti, the songs, and because I wanted to hear Arjun and Kriti saying Marathi dialogues, but I don’t think I will ever watch the whole movie. Thanks for watching it and giving us your thoughts!
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Watching: finished Memories of the Alhambra by stating up way too late for several nights in a row. (And getting caught out by my husband, who was supposed to have night work, which he moaned about and took a preparatory nap, and then it turned out it just meant he was getting home a little after I usually go to bed. He’s now newly scandalized that I don’t get as much sleep as he does.) Reading around, this is one of those K-dramas the romance crowd hates on, but I don’t know, I liked it. They definitely didn’t stick the landing, but the concept was very cool and the acting was great. Now I’m trying to decide what I have energy to watch next. Need escapism.
Thinking: got through last weekend, which involved older son testing for black belt and younger son’s 8th birthday party – the first real birthday party since the before times, a gang of kids running around in a big park while we got to catch up with people we hadn’t seen in months and months. That was lovely but wore me out. Now I can think forward a whole two weekends more to when I fly the kids west for six weeks with my family, because summer camps are still not back to normal and I need child care. Wondering when life will stop feeling like we’re just getting through one thing and the next and not able to see past the next corner.
Ranking:
1. Jab We Met
2. Jab Harry Met Sejal
3. Highway
4. Socha Na Tha
5. Love Aaj Kal 2
6. Tamasha
Haven’t seen Rockstar or the first Love Aaj Kal. Shocked you rank Love Aaj Kal 2 so high.
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I knew how late you stay up! Every night I curl up in bed and before I go to sleep, I check for comment alerts on my phone because I know it is when Emily posts her long comments.
You could watch The Flight Attendant and decide if you hate it like Filmikudhi does or like it like I do? Or if you have Disney Plus, I highly recommend WandaVision. And that’s it, I’m out of ideas.
I’m in the same place of only thinking a few days ahead, but it is more because I am in the middle of a move. My friend I am moving with just started talking about wanting to plan for taking a trip in October, and I couldn’t wrap my head around it. How can you think about October??? That’s miles away!
Love Aaj Kal 2 is so good! I think it’s better than Highway, just as a film. But we can agree to disagree 🙂 You would enjoy the first Love Aaj Kal probably, it’s a nice fun glossy romance, might be the escapism you need. Don’t watch Rockstar because we all HATE it.
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I was thinking about trying out a Dhanush movie, maybe Power Pandi. Any opinions?
And yes, moving totally shrinks your field of vision to what is directly in front of you. I always try to appreciate it in the moment but it’s a lot.
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I like VIP myself. And then you can watch VIP 2 and see Kajol!
On Thu, Jun 17, 2021 at 7:42 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I like Maari 2, because it was funny and has Sai Pallavi and Tovino Thomas in a very over the top role.
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All you had to say was Sai and I’m sold.
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I forgot to say I watched two other movies last week. One of them was telugu misygonist movie Prema Pipasi. It’s about a guy who dates girls till they have sex and then ghost them. When questioned he answers: “I’m a true lover who wants true love. Those girls were bad and treated me badly so they deserve it”. Then he meets his first girlfriend (his true love) stalks her and camps drunk under her house. She doesn’t want him because she believes he raped a girl in college. He didn’t do it, just pretended to tarnish girl’s reputation. When his ex-girlfriend learns the truth she accepts him. This movie was terrible but I didn’t hate it because it was so bad and the hero so annoying that I think even the biggest roadside Romeos would think twice before stalking again.
The second movie was bengali Savita Damodar Paranjpe, It’s about a woman possesed by a ghost. I was affraid it will be too scary, but it turned out to be so inadvertently funny and not scary at all. Really I recommend it as a comedy.
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I love that “Telugu misogynist” is just a category of film! As soon as you said that, I knew exactly what it would be like. Worst version of course being the “Telugu misogynist Family Values Movie”. UGH!
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Angie your reviews are treasures.
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And I didn’t even tell you the best parts of Savita…
The husband of Kusum, the possesed woman, didn’t know how he can help her so he called a doctor and a palmist. The palmist said there is a ghost, but the doctor was sure Kusum doesn’t have enough sex, because her husband is not good enough and that’s why the woman suffers. Turns out both are right – there is a sexually frustrated ghost inside Kusum. The spirit hates Kusum and her husband, and her plan is to disturb everytime they want to be together. But on the other hand she also wants have sex, so she decides to seduce the palmist. The best part is that it’s not Raaz or Hate Story, but a sober marathi film, with actors (one of them is my fav Subodh Bhave) who, with serious and dedicated faces, tell dialogues like “She want phisical relations…with me” or “I came here to give you want you want. you want my body? Take it, take it in whichever way you want.”
Really this movie made my week. Recommended.
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Sex with a palmist????
On Thu, Jun 17, 2021 at 3:00 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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He doesn’t even look like an experienced guy. And he was wearing black undershirt under his plaid shirt when he came to surrender to the ghost! I was like: Whaat?
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The one in Drag Me To Hell was pretty hot.
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I kind of want to watch it for the camp factor, honestly. It’s basically on the level of snake films by the sound of it.
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Finally figured a way to watch Don Palathara’s latest movie. App called mainstreamtv has it. I still wonder why he is not discussed as one of the best film makers in Kerala. Shavam his film is such a gem and for me scores over Ee Ma Yau in dealing with the theme of death.
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Watched some YT. And as for imtiaz movie rankings, I think JWM is my top pick. Why? I could not tell you.
Oh oh! I saw this hilarious thing on IG today, where Karan was explaining what happened with the Kangana thing (and make some very legit points). And there was a comment calling Karan a rip-off because “Pretty Woman” in KHNH has the same tune and words as…Pretty Woman from Pretty Woman (Julia Roberts and Richard Gere).
But like. That’s. That’s. THAT’S THE POINT.
and it was a great song choice too! PW the movie is about a) capitalist America, which KHNH touches on and b) a woman in a bad situation trying to get educated, fall in love, and most of all, get free and independent and follow her dreams and help her friends. Gee, now who does that sound like?
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I can give them like 50 other examples of actual rip offs if they want them.
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Exactly!! None of them KJo!
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Bizarrely now that school is out and all the world has more time I DO NOT. And it is super hot. I went from exercising outside everyday to only really getting heart pounding exercise in two or three times a week. But I am trying to get in evening walks. I love being out at sunset, and it is cooler then, it was only 93 last night! (I’m trying to be funny, but 93 is much cooler than 103, so it felt cooler). I’m thrilled your exercise in sunshine worked. Hopefully you can take midday fast walks or something back in the city.
In addition to not having as much time to exercise I also don’t have much time to watch TV or look at the computer. I really enjoyed the watch a long this morning.
I’m reading Makiota Sisters – the Japanese Jane Austen. At first it was boring, but now I love it. My big take away is that at our core all people are the same everywhere, regardless of country or time.
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Also thinking I need to see all the Imtiaz movies. Never made it through Rockstar. Never started two others.
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Rockstar, BLECH!
On Sat, Jun 19, 2021 at 4:30 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I’m so glad you were able to join our watchalong this morning!
Are your boys booked up with summer activities that you have to ferry them to? Or empty of activities so you are the activity director?
Jane Austen translates SO WELL!!!! Her Indian adaptations are excellent, and I imagine basically any culture could use her. So long as there are misunderstandings and sisters and parents.
On Sat, Jun 19, 2021 at 4:21 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I am in charge of creating all summer activities. But one child has a broken collarbone, which makes our typical go to s (
Jumping in lakes and canals) rough. Spouse is teaching summer school, but he has a torn Achilles so our other go to (backpacking) is out as well. But the mountains are pretty, we can see friends, and we’re even watching a friends dog. This reminds Spouse and I that we don’t want a dog, but the kids are not on the same page.
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All children should have a dog! Get them a dog! Looking after it can be their summer activity!
The only other things I can think of to do involve Large Scale Art Projects. Cardboard box sculptures in the driveway? Painting a sheet and hanging it off the side of the house? Making a movie? Building a car?
On Thu, Jun 24, 2021 at 12:33 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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