I love Imtiaz Ali romances, because he does something really interesting with changing what we think of as “romance”. I sometimes hate Imtiaz Ali romances because it feels like he gets caught up in what he finds interesting and loses track of the basic definition of romance. You know, that it usually involves two people, not just one.
Well, I saw Mubarakan. And I thought, “should I stay up super late and write a review to go up at midnight? Naaaaaaaah!” So hopefully no one was staying up desperately refreshing my site waiting for it to post.
My podcast adventures continue! I am still signed up with the funky system that lets me load to itunes, but they have a monthly limit so I couldn’t load the newest one there. It will go up on Tuesday, when a new month starts. So you can listen to it now if you JUST CAN’T WAIT on Soundcloud, or wait until next week/month and hear it on itunes.
Yaaaaaaaay, Sanjay! Your second birthday out of jail with no court case hanging over you! That must feel so good! Here are 25 reasons I love you, one for every year between your debut in Rocky and your re-debut in Lago Raho Munna Bhai. (this is an updated and reposted post from last year)
So, we’ve all watched “Hawaaiyan” a million times now, right? And we’ve all gotten into the footplay thing in the middle? Or is that just me? In order to celebrate our new shared foot fetish, let’s look at a whole bunch of bare foot photos.
Happy Jab Harry Met Sejal Week! I always get a scattering of complaints when I do theme weeks like this. Which might be my fault, because I don’t make it clear why I am doing this and what it really is (not just fangirling over a new big release). And I know I have a lot of new readers now, so I am going to quickly explain why there is this thusness before moving on in the post.
Forgive me, I am still really really weak on Malayalam. So this won’t be as extensive as it could be. But moviemavengal just reminded me it is his birthday and I feel like I have to do SOMETHING.
Well, I watched this movie almost two weeks ago, and then I had to think about it for a long time before I was ready to write about it. Which is a good sign. On the other hand, I watched Dil Hai Tumhaare and then scribbled something off the very next day, because not a lot to think about there! (also, my schedule is totally messed up this week, so it’s Friday classics on Thursday night. There’s something else going up tomorrow morning)
Trailers! Not terribly exciting ones, but I am so desperate for content that I will take it. And at least the Farhan one raises some interesting questions about coincidence versus copying (in other words, it has the same plot as Qaidi Band and I don’t know why).
Happy Wednesday/Thursday (it’s been a long week)! We have the scene this week which teaches all aspiring lovers a very important lesson: always ALWAYS start by winning over the little sister. (full index of DDLJ posts here)
What well made movie! With a lot of well made thoughts at the heart of it. The biggest of which is, what makes a moral man? Or, to put it in Indian philosophical terms, a dharmic man? (No Spoiler review here, if you are planning to see it and don’t want to be spoiled)
Well, now Shahrukh is just super super mad at me. Could he tell I’ve been cheating on him with Nivin Pauly and Madhavan? Anyway, he not only posted this without subtitles, he posted it at the exact moment I was leaving for work, meaning I couldn’t watch it until just now. If he had posted it as little as 15 minutes earlier, I would have been all set! See, clearly jealous and hurt. I’m sorry Shahrukh! I will never stray again!
I did it! I went to see Vikram Vedha! On a weeknight when I had to go to work the next day. I have had very very little sleep this week. Oh well, I’ll sleep in January when the new releases stop. Oh, and that’s why this review is going up on Wednesday instead of Tuesday, because I got home around midnight and did not feel like staying up for another 2 hours writing a review. And this was a gooooooooooooood movie, it deserves a 2 hour review, not a twenty minute one (Munna Michael, dashed that thing off in no time). And also two reviews, I realized halfway through this one that there are a fair number of you who won’t be able to see the film and will want spoilers, and another half who are planning to see the film but want my take in advance. So this is NO SPOILERS, but SPOILERS will be going up later today.
I have a question for you! Suggested on Monday by Niki. And of course you can also just talk about what you have been reading/watching/thinking this week.
Why is there no news today? Why isn’t SRK releasing the newest Jab Harry Met Sejal song trailer? Why can’t I find anything for my quick afternoon post? All of these reasons and more are making me grumpy and depressed, so I am going to cheer myself up by looking at all the songs that make me smile. And also distract myself by playing my own personal version of Antakshari, connecting song by song through actor instead of word (don’t speak Hindi) or sound (can’t appreciate music). Feel free to suggest alternative happy songs that I could have gone with!
Does that headline work? I debated it for quite a bit. I think it does. Anyway, Munna Michael isn’t even really the big news this week, because we all kind of knew it would flop, that’s not exactly “news”. No, the news is over in the Punjabi world! And a little bit Tamil and Telugu.
Crazy at work today, so no time to write anything substantive. But why not a fanvid post? Because it’s been a while.
Last night I went the North American Film Awards, which are essentially the Malayalam IIFAs. So, the IIFAs without any backup dancers or rehearsals, but with a lot of really detailed eloquent speeches and as much applause for the directors as their was for the stars. And in a theater which is about the same size as a high school auditorium, and wasn’t even sold out. But that’s not important, what’s important is I got stuck trying to get out of the parking lot because I was blocked in by NIVIN PAULY!!!!
Happy Monday! This is the weekly time when you distract me and keep me awake while I try to suffer through Monday morning at work.
I don’t really know how I did it or if I can replicate it, but in some magical fashion I am now listed as an iTunes podcast. Phew! However, there is a monthly time limitation to how many minutes I can load, so the newest one is there, and one of the older ones, but the rest of the podcast library will be added slowly as I gain more minutes month by month.
(the new economy is so stupid, I have to pay every month in order to have the privilege of providing free content to iTunes. But I am going to resist paying even more in order to have the privilege of providing even more free content! Also, why a lowercase “i” and a capital “T”? The new world makes no sense!)
Anyway, itunes link!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-call-it-bollywood/id1262714482
This is such an indulgence of myself, even more than my Golden Girls post. But I have now finished my dozenth rewatch of the entire run, and I can’t resist. Partly because I want to add songs and stuff, but also because I really really want to tighten up that plot. And make Phoebe end up with the guy she is meant to end up with, not Paul Rudd.
Today he is 44, so I get to put up all my favorite songs and reasons I love him! 25 in all, for the age he was when he wrote his first hit song. (this is an updated and reposted post from last year)
Well, that was a movie that happened! So glad I saw it with someone else, by the time we were 5 minutes in, my friend Dina and I were already getting the giggles just by exchanging glances. But it was kind of neat how it made me think back and really appreciate other better versions. (no spoiler review here) (oh, and I just remembered, I did a post already on the history of dance on film in general, you should read that here)
Well, that was a super fun movie to watch! But not because it was a good movie. Oh my goodness was it bad! To the point where we got the giggles about it.
Well, that was an incredibly fun evening! Dina and I laughed and laughed all the way through the movie, and then laughed and laughed all the way home. And if you want to hear why, you can listen in!
dontcallitbollywood 