Friday, August 01, 2008

Batman 7 Mock Posters!



The Dark Knight was phenomenal, so it's only natural that people are looking forward to the possible next installment in Chris Nolan's Batman series. In that spirit, ~joshwmc on deviantART has a few awesome mock posters of Batman 7. Here's one of Harley Quinn and he has 2 more with Catwoman and The Riddler. Love 'em!

In appreciation,
Arjun

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Movies To Look Forward To

Here's a list of some of the movies I'm looking forward to over the next couple of months adapted and expanded from Rotten Tomatoes' fall preview feature... Synopses adapted from RT, Wikipedia and IMDb.


The Kingdom
(Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner)
Release Date:
September 28, 2007
Initially slated for a spring release, this Peter Berg-directed political thriller sends a squad of American federal agents to Saudi Arabia in order to investigate the bombing of a United States embassy. Based on the Riyadh bombings of 2003, the film was ostensibly delayed in order to better compete during awards season. With Berg behind the camera and a script co-written by Michael Mann, The Kingdom looks better than you might expect.

Lust, Caution
(Tony Leung, Joan Chen)
Release Date:
September 28, 2007
Lust, Caution is an award-winning 2007 film directed by Ang Lee. The film is an adaption of a 1950 short story of the same title by the famed Chinese author Eileen Chang, said to be loosely based on an actual event that took place in 1939-1940. The story is mostly set in World War II-era Shanghai. It depicts a group of Chinese students plotting to kill a powerful collaborator with the Japanese, using a young woman as a lure.

Michael Clayton (George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson)
Release Date:
October 05, 2007
Corporate espionage and life-or-death courtroom drama get the George Clooney treatment in this tale of a burned-out legal fixer who finds himself dangerously in over his head after a colleague's sabotage leaves him scrambling to pull off the toughest case of his career.


We Own The Night (Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg)
Release Date:
October 12, 2007
Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg square off as brothers on opposite sides of the war between the NYPD and the Russian mafia in the early 1980s. James Gray directs; Robert Duvall and Eva Mendes round out the cast.

30 Days of Night (Josh Hartnett, Melissa George)
Release Date:
October 19, 2007
Based on a series of graphic novels, the story takes the vampire mythology we all know - bloodsucking creatures of the night with a deathly allergy to sunlight, etc. - and gives it a cool twist, sending a flock of fanged fiends to Barrow, a small town in northern Alaska where the sun dips below the horizon for more than a full month (hence the title). One by one, the invaders pick off Barrow's residents, who slowly begin to realize they're in for a very bad few weeks, and make it their mission to survive until the dawn; to that end, the dwindling group of survivors bands together in a desperate standoff against the bloodthirsty undead, led by their sheriff, Eben Olemaun (played by Josh Hartnett).

Gone Baby Gone (Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan)
Release Date:
October 19, 2007
Ben Affleck takes another step on the road toward artistic redemption by directing this adaptation of the Dennis Lehane novel. Sure, he cast his brother Casey in the lead role, but if the trailer's to be trusted, this will be a nastier, higher-stakes version of Mystic River (no coincidence, seeing as how that was also a Lehane adaptation).

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke)
Release Date:
October 26, 2007
Master filmmaker Sidney Lumet directs this absorbing suspense thriller about a family facing the worst enemy of all – itself. Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Andy, an overextended broker who lures his younger brother, Hank (Ethan Hawke) into a larcenous scheme: the pair will rob a suburban mom-and-pop jewelry store that appears to be the quintessential easy target. The problem is, the store owners are Andy and Hank’s actual mom and pop and, when the seemingly perfect crime goes awry, the damage lands right at their doorstep.

Bee Movie (Jerry Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger)
Release Date:
November 02, 2007
Nine years after pulling the plug on the sitcom that bore his name, Jerry Seinfeld returns with this computer-animated look at bee/human relations. Alongside Seinfeld in the vocal booth: Renée Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, Megan Mullally, John Goodman, Chris Rock, and Kathy Bates.

American Gangster (Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe)
Release Date:
November 02, 2007
Introducing America to the inside story of the rise and fall of real-life drug kingpin Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington), the Harlem dealer who became notorious for smuggling heroin into the United States by hiding it in the coffins of soldiers killed in Vietnam. Rounding out the cast are Josh Brolin, Common, RZA, and - as Richie Roberts, the detective who doggedly pursued Lucas - Russell Crowe. Behind the lens is three-time Crowe director Ridley Scott.

The Kite Runner (Shaun Toub, Said Taghmaoui)
Release Date:
November 02, 2007
An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from the final days of Afghanistan's monarchy to the atrocities of the Taliban reign. This unforgettable story of redemption is based on the best selling phenomena The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

No Country for Old Men
(Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem)
Release Date: November 09, 2007
No Country for Old Men, adapted by Joel and Ethan Coen from a novel about the aftermath of a Texan drug deal gone wrong, marks the second time (after 2000's All the Pretty Horses) one of Cormac McCarthy's books has been made into a feature-length film. For a 74-year-old writer whose work didn't enjoy wide recognition until the early '90s, having Tommy Lee Jones and Woody Harrelson act out your prose must be somewhat surreal; for moviegoers, it's likely to be one of the most engrossing (and better-reviewed) films of the fall. Look for standout work by the film's two lesser known leads - Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem - who turn in impressive, memorable performances.

Lions for Lambs (Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep)
Release Date:
November 09, 2007
Seeing Tom Cruise, Robert Redford, and Meryl Streep on the same screen is bound to be a powerful attractant for more than a few moviegoers, in what's shaping up to be another of the season's more controversial dramas. How do politics and journalism co-exist in today's atmosphere of cross-national tension? So asks the first United Artists release under the new management of Cruise and producing partner Paula Wagner.

Beowulf (Angelina Jolie, Ray Winstone)
Release Date:
November 16, 2007
In a legendary time of heroes, the mighty warrior Beowulf battles the demon Grendel and incurs the hellish wrath of the beast’s ruthlessly seductive mother. Their epic clash forges the timeless legend of Beowulf. Groundbreaking director Robert Zemeckis offers a unique vision of the Beowulf saga in a way that it has never been told before.

Love in the Time of Cholera (Javier Bardem, Giovanna Mezzogiorno)
Release Date:
November 16, 2007
One of the greatest love stories ever told, based on the timeless masterpiece by Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera. Spanning a half-century in the complex, magical and sensual city of Cartagena, Colombia, the sweeping romantic epic tells the story of a man who waits over fifty years for his one true love.

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman)
Release Date: November 16, 2007
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is the strangest, most fantastic, most wonderful toy store in the world. In fact, it's a magic toy store and everything in it comes to life – including the store itself. The Emporium only asks one thing of its customers; you must believe it to see it. Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, is written and directed by Zach Helm.

Hitman
(Timothy Olyphant, Dougray Scott)
Release Date:
November 21, 2007
Agent 47 (Olyphant) has been educated, from his genetically-engineered "birth", to become a professional assassin for hire, whose most powerful weapons are his nerve and a resolute pride in his work. 47 is both the last two digits of the barcode tattooed on the back of his head and his only name. The hunter becomes the hunted when 47 gets caught up in a political takeover. Both Interpol and the Russian military chase the Hitman across Eastern Europe as he tries to find out who set him up and why they're trying to take him out of the game. But the greatest threat to 47's survival may be the stirrings of his conscience and the unfamiliar emotions aroused in him by a beautiful, damaged girl...

Stephen King's The Mist (Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden)
Release Date:
November 21, 2007
Having already successfully adapted Stephen King's The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, director Frank Darabont turns to the author for inspiration a third time, turning this 1985 short story about a malevolent fog into a starring vehicle for Thomas Jane, Andre Braugher, and Marcia Gay Harden.

I'm sure I have left out a couple, but hopefully nothing too important. If you think I have, please feel free to point out my omission in the comments section. Also remember I am not considering movies that will be released in December.

In anticipation,
Arjun

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Choices

I often wonder about the choices I've made in my life, short though it has been. There are points where I could have chosen from a myriad of options - with no real compulsion to go in any direction. I've spoken to other people about their choices, or more specifically how they make them. The manner in which choices are made run the gamut from the slow, ponderous weigh-all-the-options-and-choose-the-best-one, to the split-second gut-reaction choice. I like to think I'm the kind of person who thinks things through, and indeed I do tend to do that more often than not. However, when I think back to the actual pivotal choices that have brought me to where I am today, I realize that I am more one for the instant brand.

For instance, in my eleventh year of school, I found myself floundering. Generally a 'good student' up to that point, my grades and interest in school activities took a dive. When I think back to that year, I really don't know what was going through my head. Occasionally I hear a song that I liked during that time and a subconscious link to a forgotten memory sparks the remembrance of a suppressed emotion. Definitely an adolescent emotion, because I cannot put a name to it any more. A cocktail of 1 part anger, 1 part shame and 3 parts confusion. With a twist. Now comes the choice - stick it out or quit while I'm (barely) ahead? I honestly don't even remember that choice ever concretizing in my head before becoming a fully vocalized plea to my parents to get me out. In retrospect I do believe that was the 'correct' option, if such a concept exists. Let me rather call it the best option for me to become the specific me I am today, out of the infinite pool of alternate possibilities.

Moving the reel ahead about a year we see a much better adjusted me. Sending out three University applications and receiving acceptance from them all. Here comes a critical choice. And one which I am still not sure I made 'correctly'. There were so many variables that this choice came bundled with that there really could be no other way to make it than by instinct. Choice A was closer to home, but B was reportedly the better Department. B and C had good international recognition, but A was in a city with less crime. Pros and cons balancing out. Eenie meenie miney moe...

Jump ahead a year and a half and an older, but not really wiser me is writing a set of exams which I might as well have not. Second year, first semester. The wave I rode all through my first year of University has finally hit the rocky shore it was inevitably headed towards. As the surf crashes against and swirls between the dark rocks, I grab anything that might get me out safely. Once again I was faced with a familiar choice - fight or flight. Stick to my chosen degree or transfer to another. And this time I can remember clearly the exact moment I decided to stick it out. In my head I have a fully 3D frozen image of that very second. I have only to close my eyes and I can swoop down from the blue sky with patchy clouds, blown by the brisk breeze to my disillusioned self walking out of a very brief meeting with a 'career counselor'. The sun had just gone behind a cloud and there was just one other student heading towards the stairs. I am frozen in mid-step and mid-curse. With eyes dilated and adrenaline pumping, I choose to fight. With this decision I am satisfied.

Now we get to the present. Or at least the choice that is currently to be made. If all things go according to schedule, I should be finishing my degree soon. Right now, beyond that all things fade into a thick impenetrable fog. I can see small pinpoints of light, but they lie along two diverging paths. Work now or study further. Am I ready for the 'real-world'? Do I have the will to tackle the masters course? Doubts plague the fog in my mind like ghosts. I have to hope that when the time comes to choose, I choose 'correctly'...

In two minds,
Arjun

Friday, June 02, 2006

The RR Varma Code!

This is a hilariously South Indian take on the Da Vinci Code. Heres a snippet:


Just as DVC [Da Vinci Code] is based on a world renowned painter Leonardo Da Vinci and the mysterious messages that he conveyed through his paintings, RVC is based on "world famous in south-india" painter Raja Ravi Varma (hence RR Varma and not because of Ramgopal Varma, clear hai???) and the inscrutable messages that he left on his paintings.

The central characters in DVC are called Robert Langdon & Sophie Neveau (pardon the mishtakes in esspelling, we are like that only). The main characters in DVC will be named as Rangarajan Lakshmanan & Subbalakshmi Nagarajan. (Initials & south-indianisms are very important to the essence of the characters). And not to mention, both the characters belong to the prestigious Iyer & Iyengar lineage respectively.


To read the rest head on over to the blog via the link below...

The Raja Ravi Varma code!

YENjoy it! :D

Edit: In fact, I'm just reading some of the other posts from the same blog and they are brilliant! Take a look for yourself here, and I shall add it to my blog links on the sidebar...

Monday, May 29, 2006

New Superman Trailer!!!

Yes, its drawing nearer! A brand new Superman Returns trailer was shown before X-Men 3 in some theatres and here it is for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy! This one is going to rock!


Friday, May 26, 2006

Is Ann Coulter for real?!

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the woman of the moment, the one about whom this blog entry written and is so right wing, that if she were any more right, she would be left! The one, the only... Ann Coulter.



















Two of Ann Coulter's books - Slander and Treason, both New York Times bestsellers

Ok call me late to the party, but I had not heard about this infamous Wicked Witch of the West until today when I read an article in my university's newspaper about her. I read it and at first could not believe it. I know that I am pretty naïve when it comes to worldly matters, but I thought that at least on some level I understood the basics of how the human mind worked. Oh how wrong I was! To illustrate what I am talking about to those of you who do not know about Ann Coulter, here are a few of my favourite quotes from her.


"The ethic of conservation is the explicit abnegation of man's dominion over the Earth. The lower species are here for our use. God said so: Go forth, be fruitful, multiply, and rape the planet"

"I think [women] should be armed but should not [be allowed to] vote."

"If those kids had been carrying guns they would have gunned down this one [child] gunman. ... Don't pray. Learn to use guns."

"We know who the homicidal maniacs are. They are the ones cheering and dancing right now. We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.


Ok, now there are many more quotes and it would be easy for me to simply list them all and leave it at that. They make for some entertaining (if shocking at times) reading. But that's what sites like this [wikiquote] are for! Read her quotes on Bill Clinton, they're priceless! Anyway, I want to go a bit deeper and try to figure out what makes a woman like this tick. Clearly there must be something beyond the mask that these quotes present.

Now, just for the record, I want to state that I am a liberal. Not that I really care about politics, but when talking about such an extremely conservative individual it must be stated. Also, this is not a political blog. I am simply trying to analyze the woman who can say things like the ones above with a straight face! That said, let's get on with it.

As I was reading the article about her for the first time, I was caught completely off guard. That someone had such radically different views to my own and indeed what I considered even possible was just a bit too much to take at first! Granted, I know that everyone has different opinions... I still never dreamed that they could be that different! Just taking the comment she made about women not being allowed to vote for example. Here was a woman saying that other women should not vote. Does that not seem a bit stupid to you? Next let's consider her extremely pro-guns status. Now here she just crossed the line! She advocates giving every child in school a gun so that if any one of them decides to shoot up the school, the other kids can gun them down. Just the last five words of the previous sentence are too troubling to contemplate let alone implement!

Now after reading up on the net a bit, I gathered that Ms. Coulter has been a staunch right winger since college, so my initial thought that this must all be some kind of facade was wrong. She really does believe in the things she says. But I'm pretty sure that she exaggerates a lot of it to make her point. She is unafraid to say anything and that is a very powerful weapon in politics. The reason I refuse to believe that she is just a complete idiot is because someone who is as well read and educated as she seems to be has to have some form of logical thought behind any belief. So now after much thought and research, I have narrowed down the possibilities of what makes Ann Coulter the angry and spiteful woman she is:

  1. She is a brilliant satirist: This is an interesting theory, but sometimes you really get the feeling that she fully believes what she is saying. Satire must tread the fine line between making fun of something and outright advocating it and she crosses that line too often.
  2. She is a He: This seems to be the only plausible explanation for all the different symptoms that she is exhibiting - love of war, misogyny, gun friendliness and her anti abortion stand.
  3. She actually believes everything she says: As I have said before, I find this very hard to believe.
So there we have it. This woman seems to be a very interesting "flashpoint" and I'll be keeping an eye on her, just for some more of those priceless quotes!

Till next time then, keep stepping on the toes of the world!

Monday, May 15, 2006

Limited Vocabulary

Sometimes I really think that I become more illiterate as the days go by. Influenced by the people around me, the media and just a general lack of quality reading material of late, I find strange and incomprehensble usage of words becoming part of my daily vocabulary. So here I thought I'd share some with you. Lets all get un-educated together!

Yes indeed, folks this is one grammar class you will definately not wanna miss... unless you are high school English teacher - in which case, consider yourself warned! Now some of these are fairly common and others I can say with some degree of certainty you will have never heard of before. Alright then class, lets begin!

Cost

This word is in fairly common use among the white-jock contingent of this country. Its usage easily defies all generally accepted meanings of the word. For example:

The Sharks lost the game, oke! What a cost!
(note: lets not even go into the meanings of 'oke'!)

Other forms of usage could be "You are costing" or even, "He costed". This is generally a term used when something didn't go according to plan and it has caused dissatisfaction for a number of people. Now being neither white nor a jock you may wonder why I would be using the word. The simple answer is that when people all around you use certain terms to refer to something it sorta rubs off on you. Like an airborne disease... What a cost!

Off The Chain

One of my friends who is really into hip-hop says this a lot. I once wondered what it meant exactly because I have heard the term "Off the hook" but never "Off the chain". When I posed this question to him, he proceeded to explain it to me like so -
"You know the hook right? Anything thats off it is tight right?"
I nodded my assent and he continued.
"Ok but now see, the chain is on the hook!!!"
Aaaaah! I saw the light with that simple statement and now I use the phrase for things that are just too good for the hook. Yes, this blog is off the chain! Mwahahaha!


Late and Remain

These two are interconnected in their usage so I shall present them here togther. Basically this is how it works -

"Its late for you." This is usually followed by "You have remained."
"Lateness."

A person who has remained is said to be a remnant.
So now rather than you being late for something, a meeting say, the fact that you are late and have probably missed it means that it - the situation - is late for you. Do you see? It is quite a complex usage but once you get it, you have mastered The Remainder Theorem!