Happy Wednesday! It’s 10 degrees warmer in Chicago than it was yesterday, and yet still well below freezing.
I’ll start!
Reading: I did a big sweep of Kindle books last week, there were a TON of books suddenly available, and not that expensive. All stuff from the 40s and 50s, and a lot of it things that I got from the library when I was a kid! Let me recommend! Clarence Buddington Kelland, very popular author from the mid-century, sort of Damon Runyon with more humor and romance. Picture a Howard Hawks movie in book form. And Craig Rice, female mystery author writing under a male name, wacky screwball comedy style mysteries set in Chicago in the post-war era, a rich socialite, her nightclub owner/former reporter husband, and a drunk brilliant lawyer clearly based on Clarence Darrow.
Watching: Over the blizzardy cold weekend I started the TV series Farscape. It’s fun! And very escapist, since it’s set in space with aliens and adventures and things. Obviously also very excited for next week when Fighter comes out.
Thinking: I gotta remember to make allowances for myself with this weather. Super cold or super hot, it’s the same thing, the body is just exhausted after a few minutes. I can’t go buy groceries and then come home and cook, because by the time I get back from the grocery run I am so tired all I can do is sit. On the other hand, books and Farscape!
Listening: Since we watched Dear Zindagi this weekend, this song has been going through my head:
Now, question for you! What’s your favorite de-stress fantasy escape?
For me right now, 1950s-1940s America! Nice and distant from the present, fun adventures Or, between the wars England! Agatha Christie and all that.
dontcallitbollywood 
Watching: I watched Merry Christmas which was so wonderful. I can’t spoil it but it is sort of romantic and Katrina+Vijay Sethupathi have great chemistry. They somehow work as a couple; I want a romcom with Katrina being an uptight boss and Vijay Sethupathi being the clumsy underworker. I also watched Hi Nanna which was so STUPID. Like it completely robs the women of her agency and the mother is PSYCHO. Also the climax is such a mess. Its like Hulchul but if no one realised the grandmother is not to be trusted.
Reading: I finally finished Possession which was awful and verbose. I disliked the writing so much that I basically skipped through the last few pages. In order to give myself a breather, I read Vikram and Betaal which was so nice. However I definitely noticed a pattern with all the stories: some stupid incident causes all of them to die. I’m reading Love in the time of Cholera which is really good but so good that I keep reading back again to observe the beauty.
Listening: I am listening to Bolo Na from 12th fail. I really liked the movie and I think even though the exam is centered on UPSC exams it didn’t have the be all or end all attitude that most of these films had. It reminded me more of 3 idiots where all the characters go through many struggles but still they key thing is they all survived.
Thinking: The winter season is making me so sleepy. Whether its a weekend or a weekday, I just sleep all day. It’s so hard to be awake when all I want to do is just to be cozy in bed all day.
My favourite de-stress fantasy escapes are all the complicated human stories I’ve written. Or also a magical world similar to Harry Potter and a Shimla heiress in the 50s.
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I also saw Hi Nanna, and I liked it. I mean, the odd thing is that it’s 100% my kind of movie , and I feel I should love it, but I only liked it. I can’t say what is lacking in this film that it didn’t make me melt and fall in love. I agree that the mother is a psycho. It was so annoying that they didn’t show what happens with her later. I was waiting to see her suffer, but it never happened. Maybe that’s why I didn’t love the film?
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I didn’t hate the movie. I just hated the incomplete ending and the mother so much. I also didn’t like that everyone blames her in the movie for no reason.
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If it weren’t so cold and horrible, I would go to the theater to see Merry Christmas based on your review! But it is cold and horrible, so instead I will stay inside and respond to your comment.
This just continues my plan to NOT read Possession. Instead I’m reading fun Clarence Budington Kelland books from the 1940s. They are a tight 200 pages and I can finish them in a few hours. Very satisfying.
Agree about wanting to be in bed all day! It’s so warm and cozy and safe in the bedroom.
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Merry Christmas is not a romance movie so I’m scared I might misrepresent it. However, it is very romantic but it is also a Sriram Raghavan movie. If that makes sense.
I would recommend Possession only to my worst enemy or the most pseudo intellectual person I know. So please never ever read it.
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The movies I saw recently:
Once upon two times – a little movie about a couple who wants to get married but when they arrange the meeting with the parents they discover that the father of the boy and the mother of the girl were once in love and supposed to elope and now they hate each other. It was nice, and bonus points for the hero being an aspiring classical singer. Also there are some nice lessons about love we hardly see in other movies.
Kaathal – The core. Mammootty’s plays closeted gay in this. This man fascinates me so much. He not only acted but also produced this movie. I want to know what is in his head. Which other superstar in his 70′ would make movies like Kaathal, Peranbu or even Puzhu. I admire him.
Dono- Finally! I was waiting for this movie since the first announcement came out long time ago. It’s Avnish S. Barjatya (Sooraj Barjatya’s son) first movie with Sunny Deol’s son Rajveer and Poonam Dhillon’s daughter Paloma. I admit, I was sure Rajveer acting will be as wooded and his brother’s acting, and in only 3 minutes I was proven wrong. It was such a nice surprise. He is good. In one of the scenes I even had goosebumbs. The guy has talent. Also Paloma was good. The movie was a little too long and there was one ridiculous conflict, but I liked it. Basically it’s about beautiful people in beautuful clothes at a lavish wedding talking about feelings.
Listening: I’m addicted to this song.
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