This is barely worthy of a post, but I found it interesting, and thought I might as well pass it along. So if you are desperately eager for an interesting thought about media integration and stuff, here it is!
One thing that really struck me about the new JHMS trailer released today was how delightfully familiar SRK looked in that leather jacket. I could do a whole other post on the psychological meaning of leather jackets (Western, motorcycles, slightly forbidden, impractical (SO HOT IN INDIA), helps hide narrow shoulder and expanding waist issues), but we don’t need that, we just know that men in leather jackets=bad boy sexy.
Mad at me, but still willing to help, having sensed that my blog views were way way down over the past few days, he provided me with content. See, even when we are in a fight, he still cares.
I did watch a real classic for this week! Really really! I watched Andaz and everything! But I just didn’t feel like writing about it, maybe yesterday’s epic “how to make a film” post exhausted me, maybe something else. Anyway, that review of a “good” movie will be going up at a some point, probably next Friday. But in the meantime you will have to make do with this review of a not-so-good movie that my friends badgered me into watching with them on Tuesday night.
Sorry, all the “good” Bahubali topics are over, we are down to just the fanfic that is really more of an indulgence for myself than anything else. But you can always go back and read and comment on the good posts! They are all indexed here.
I put up a random epic post last Monday going over every step of the filmmaking process. But it seems like as a follow up I should really zero in on what happens during a “schedule”, when you actually start filming. Oh, and my Hindi Film 101 schedule is now totally blown, you may not get anything at all next week, because this exhausted me. But it was so interesting I just couldn’t resist!
Yes yes, I haven’t forgotten DDLJ! I skipped last week because of the Net Neutrality protest, but now I am back! (full index of DDLJ posts here)
Datablue pointed out in comments on yesterday’s trailer post that I ignored Arjun Rampal’s Daddy, once again. And I made a mental note that the next time I had an excuse for a trailer post, I would talk about it. And then I open up twitter, and poof! Trailer! So now I get to combine two very very different films in one post.
Happy Wednesday! Halfway through the week! I was up way way too late last night, but I am proud to say I have now almost finished my entire Friends rewatch. So you get to entertain me and keep me awake today on our Wednesday watching post!
Maybe it’s because I saw 3 movies in one weekend, but I came out of this one (the last one) feeling really grumpy about the ending. Like, really really grumpy. Which is oddly kind of a testament to how invested it managed to make me in the characters (unlike Jagga Jasoos where I didn’t care how it ended, so long as I was freed from the torture)
Thanks to you nice commentators (Niki in particular), I was alerted to this trailer. And it is really interesting! Although the new “Kapoor” kid still isn’t blowing me away, the new actress is great. And then I thought I might as well do a quick look at any other new trailers that our out there, so this also has a song from Baadshaho, Indu Sarkar, and Haseena Parker.
I miss Tubelight! There are no good Jagga Jasoos puns. I had to full back on jokes related to actual content. Blech! At least if Munna Michael fails next week I have that whole rich thread of Michael Jackson song titles to play with. Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, that’s going to be just the best week! (as always, figures courtesy of rentrack by way of bollywoodhungama)
Well that was an interesting movie! Took me a really really long time to figure it out. And then in the middle of the night I suddenly sat up and went “Of course! It’s all about the 3 chains!”
We’ve had a lot of discussion on the Jagga Jasoos post about where things went wrong. And I think part of the reason we’ve been going around and around is because the production of an Indian film is so very different from the process for a Hollywood film. And, in addition, the Indian film producers waste a lot less time talking to reporters than Hollywood producers, so it isn’t as easy to get a sense of what really goes into their process. So I am going to lay it out for you here!
Happy Monday! I had an exhausting weekend of watching 3 movies, plus doing the church service. And groceries, putting pictures on the wall, etc. etc. So being at work on Monday is kind of a nice break.
All over! So sad! Except not really, the Index will always be there, I get new comment notifications any time and they pop up on the homescreen too. So feel free to come back to an old post at any point and add a new thought to it. I think I have broken it down in a detailed enough way that if there is anything you might possibly want to discuss, there WILL be a specific location for it. And this is the specific location for if we think all these characters will be able to find a true happy ending.
Remember way way back when I asked for suggestions/requests for Sunday posts? Pride and Prejudice (here) and North and South (here) were tops. And then neither of those posts ended up getting many views, so I sort of veered off that list. But I don’t have any fresh ideas this week, so I am veering back to it and taking the 3rd one down, Persuasion.
Yesterday I put up a post reminding people that if they want, they can pay for content here instead of just getting it for free. But that’s not actually what I want most. What I want most is more readers! Because I like it when people read my work. But I have no money or time for promoting myself so, if you think more people should be reading this blog, I need your help to make that happen. And like the paying for content post, I will be putting this up as a monthly reminder, just in case you forget or are a new reader.
Here are 5 simple things you can do to help more people find me:
And one bonus not simple idea:
A couple of people have mentioned casually that they have shared my work with professional film people they know. Film reviewers, film students, website editors, whatever. That’s great and I love that. When you share it, please also remind them that they can contact me if they would like to use anything I have written, or even something as little as an original thought I have had, in their own work.
And on the flip side, please please let me know if you see anyone who has cut and pasted anything I wrote, or even quoted an original thought I have had (something you read and think “this feels like deja vu, didn’t I read this analysis on dontcallitbollywood already?”), without citing where it came from. I love it when people quote me and cite me, and it makes me feel like the world is horrible when they don’t cite me and take my ideas for themselves. I’ve already been plagiarized a few times by people who thought it was no big deal to just copy an entire post and put it up as their own, or who took an argument I made and used it as their own without thinking about it. And that’s kind of the only thing I have of value to offer readers, a promise that every single thought, down to a tossed off comment about how Shahrukh’s hair looks, came from my own brain, not anywhere else. So if you see it being stolen, please let me know, sometimes there will be someone I can report it to and get it pulled down, or I can just ask nicely if they would please make it go away, or at least cite me as the source.
I already put up my SPOILER review, which was supposed to be the no spoilers review but then I veered in another way. So now I am finally doing the No Spoilers!
Well, I watched it! I hated it! And not just because I was planning to hate it. I really did hate it, even after giving it a fair chance and sitting straight through. Also, I was really really really really bored. I checked my phone 5 times, the first time after the first 20 minutes because I thought surely the first hour at least must have passed. Honestly, the best part of the whole experience were the trailers (A Gentleman, looking better and better!). And now I am sitting in the mall food court, eating lunch and writing this very fast so I can leave the whole horrible experience behind me.
New Podcast! Been a while, because Dina’s been sick. But now she is better! So we got to go to a movie last night, and talk about it all the way home, just like usual.
I’m going to start putting up a reminder post once a month. Because maybe you are a new reader, or maybe you suddenly got a raise at work and are wondering what to spend it on, or maybe you just forgot that there are ways to send me money if you want to show me appreciation for what I do. So this is a reminder!
(I provide free content all day every day, so one tiny post a month reminding you that I am a real person whose work has value seems fair, right?)
There is a little button on the menu at the top, if you enjoy my writing and want me to keep going, you can always click there to give me a donation. If you don’t have the money, or don’t feel my content is worth paying for, that’s okay too.
Additionally, you can always buy my book, click HERE to purchase. I get about 50 cents per book sale (exciting! Means about $1 a month), but more importantly, every purchase drives me up on the Amazon/other website rankings, which means more people see me instead of other lesser books on the same topic. Oh, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, then you get to read my book! It’s very good.
For a straight donation because you love me and my website, here are two options:
Donate through Patreon, which will allow you to set up a monthly subscription donation. And which can allow you to pick a reward, if you wish.
Or through Paypal, which allows for a one time donation of any amount you choose. Any time you particularly like a post, or appreciate something I am doing, just go over here and give me a dollar.
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=VSPHQJB8GVL5S
First, just getting it out of the way, I did NOT see Jagga Jasoos last night. Instead I went to see an actual good movie, Thondimuthlum Driksakshiyum (podcast going up soon, review up for Monday Malayalam). But I will be seeing it first possible show today! And taking my laptop so I can write the review for you guys from the food court at the mall and have it up ASAP.
Our final Bahubali character post, so sad! And almost our final Bahubali post altogether (There’s one final one coming in a few days. And of course the fanfic, I will be keeping that up, if only as a personal challenge to see if I can write a whole novel with a tiny cheering section of dedicated readers to help). You can see all the Bahubali posts listed in one place in the index here.
No real reason for this post beyond it being late on Friday (TGIF just wasn’t brainless enough), and me just stumbling across one image that was too good not to share. And heck, any excuse to discuss the unique appeal of SRK!
dontcallitbollywood 