Here is the promised second installation to my series. Before that let me congratulate Infosys for being the ranked 9th in the Wired 40 this year. Infy has been also ranked as 27th in the list of world’s most respected companies, an exhaustive survey conducted by Financial Times and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Lets kick off. Please note that all heading are links to the corresponding IMDB entry.

Sin City

I must admit that Sin City was not initally on the top of my list. But I guess it was my over-expectation to blame. After wading through the 3 graphic novels (or more commonly called “comics” :smile:) of Frank Miller, I cannot praise the director, Robert Rodriguez, enough for taking pains to recreate the grim and dark (literally) world of Sin City. The sparring use of colour and full length digital cinematography brings a unique feel to the movie which is faithful to the graphic novels. SinCity is actually 3 stories which are intervowen into one. Barring a few coincidential meeting points, they are independent stories. Hence, like most Rodriguez movies (eg. Spy Kids series) there is a huge star cast, but this time they are not mere cameos. All the heroes (Bruce Willis, Clive Owen and Mickey Rourke) are the stereotypical toughies with voilent streaks. Their inner turnmoil is brought out so well that these characters leave a strange aftertaste even after movie is over. That, IMHO, is the acid test of a powerful movie. Jessica Alba has done an impressive job as Nancy. However, I was somewhat disappointed by Brittany Murphy who I hoped, from her previous performance in 8 Mile and Girl, Interrupted would steal the show. In fact, Rosario Dawson has given a classy performance as Gail. Rodriguez has certainly made his point by shooting an entire film without film- Digital cinema is the future of cinema, whether the studio guys like it or not. Indie film making is once again possible, heartening news for movie enthusiasts like me :razz:. Conclusion, recommended but not for the weak of heart.

The Girl Next Door

A lil bit of background on why I choose this movie must go here. I used to be a big fan of a Discovery Channel program called PMFK, short for Popular Mechanics for Kids, in my school days (ok, even now :oops:). Though I thoroughly enjoyed the program, it was hard not to eye the elegant hostess, Elisha Cuthberth. Well, it was quite apparent that she is a promising actress and this movie indeed proves that intuituion turned true. The movie starts with a memorable college video-like opening sequence. The main character is Emile (Matthew Kidman) who is an academically brilliant but a bored teenager. The story could be best summarized by the title itself, a really attractive girl moves in next door. From the sound of it, it might appear to be a another typical teen movie. But the plot turns in the most unexpected ways. Alternating between humour, thriller and romance; this movie has it all. I would say if ‘American Pie’ series was made in this way, it would have been a much more wholesome movie. That I guess is a real big complement :wink:. Well… recommended.

Citizen Kane

You must have guessed by now… time for a bit of background. This all time classic is a must see for anyone interested in cinematography (like me, hehehe). The unconventional angles, visual story telling and deep depth of focus:shock: have been effectively used in this black and white movie, made in 1941. But even if you are not interested in all this, ‘Citizen Kane’ is a Orson Welles (who acted the lead and directed this) masterpiece that is still greatest movie of all times in the hearts of many movie lovers.

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Coming Soon…. :arrow:Kinsey, Finding Neverland, Constantine

This is a movie review post (in order of my preference:twisted:). But before that, a bit of good news. I’ll be upgrading my site from 30 MB to 100MB. While we are at it, we might as well move to the new Wordpress 1.5 version, which some very useful features like “Manage More Than Your Blog”, which would be immediately useful.

Another important news, lest I miss, is the dropping of the Amendments to the Indian Patents Act, 1970 . I’m sure all right minded Indian software professionals heaved a collective sigh of relief, as this is not just a victory for Free Software movement, but addresses a basic right of expression. Incidentally Europe is passing a similar law :shock:and hopefully they’ll follow the path demonstrated by India.

Now lets dive into the movies:

Closer

Closer, shot in London, is a movie adaptation of a brilliant play by Patrick Marber. The star studded cast and an equally stellar director Mike Nichols (of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” fame) easily made it to my must-see list for this spring.

Closer is a brilliant, modern drama on complex relations. Each of the actors - Natalie, Jude Law and Clive have portrayed the characters with precision acting. Notice that, I have intentionally left out Julia Roberts who, I feel, could have done better. At some point in the movie you would hate all these characters, perhaps with the exception of Natalie. Natalie is definitely one who stands out in the ensemble. She is sensual and vulnerable at the same time.

Though very slickly shot, the movie offers no absolution or conclusion. It remains a vivid commentary on human relationships. The brilliant visual story telling style by jumping time spans effortlessly, shows the mark of a seasoned director. Highly Recommended

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

To be honest, I was put off by the title, thinking that it is another boring Hollywood ship story. I couldn’t be more far from the truth. Based off a Disneyland Themepark ride, ‘Pirates…’ is a thorough entertainer transporting you instantly to the wild and adventurous world of the pirates.

This is one movie, which will make you stand up and notice one brilliant actor whom we have often ignored - I mean, Johnny Depp. Immortalising the quirky, swaying, yet always-at-his-wits anti-hero “Jack Sparrow”, Depp has proven yet again that he is one of the most versatile actors in the industry. Sprinkled with witty one-liners and dazzling with visual effects, you cannot afford to miss this joyride. Highly Recommended.

Incredibles

When I landed in London (i.e. Christmas time), I always kept wondering aloud - what’s the big deal about Incredibles? I mean I can understand it being sold in every store as one product or the other, but entire Streets with humungous cartoony cutouts?

Well, now after seeing the movie I must say, guys…. Pixar has done it again. Before I tell you why this is my all time favourite Pixar movie, a little bit of background. Pixar is one of the rare movie houses with 100% success rate in hollywood. All its previous six movies were pure animations (no live actors except voice-overs of course). It is the first movie in Pixar by an outsider - Brad Bird from Warner Bros. who joined Pixar causing minor shakeups. As they do in every movie, ‘Incredibles’ has created new benchmarks in computer animation. An incredible amount of path breaking wizardry in algorithmns and simulations have gone into every frame. Clearly this is one of Pixar’s greatest strengths.

The story revolves around Incredible family with superhero parents and superhero kids as well. Despite this, Incredibles is a typical American family that I’m sure that everyone can relate to. This makes it very beliveable and immersing yourself in the story, letting you forget the fact that the characters are (sic) computer generated. Though the movie is long (longest Pixar movie ever), it rushes at a maddening pace in a cartoon like fashion. This one is likely to be one of those favourites that you won’t mind seeing again and again. Highly recommended.

(To be continued…..)

This time I woke up just in time to realize that half of the day was already over. Quick bath (well not so quick), quick packing and quick planning ensued. So we covered north and south, what remains? Right answer, central wales. More specifically the eastern coast. A large part of northern and eastern wales is a national reserve. It is fairly well maintained. It even has the good ol steam engines coaches in them.

Heading towards another coastal toen, we stumbled upon a beautiful place called Aberaeron. The cliff facing the beach was so inviting that we did some rock climbing and a bit of cave exploration as well. It was so pristine and ravishing that we three Bhute, Sauji and myself lost track of time and the other two. Though my mobile worked just fine, theirs didn’t have either the currency or battery charge. We did finally meet at the beautiful seaside. Bhute chalked out the return path and we basically hit Motorway No: 4 back to London.

All in all, a superb weekend; so unbelievably good that no tour package can deliver such a wonderful mix of activities and places. This will be etched in our memories for a long, long time.

This time when I woke up I didn’t find any wonderful vistas; just a Chinese kid staring at my face. I realized I overslept in the lobby. Thankfully, I was tolerably dressed. But my ruffled hair must have given the kid the shock of his life, as he was quickly scurrying towards his mother. It seems I was the only guy who had a good sleep and a long enough sofa. Well, what can I say- tough luck boys.

By midday we started off for Swansea- the coastal paradise in south Wales. I was a drowsy navigator by now and we did take a couple of extra loops than we actually needed. We also stopped by at some important castles (like where Prince Charles was coroneted). Finally we reached the sandy shores of Swansea. It was a wonderful beach, but soon enough I excused myself to explore the city. Well, I know it does sound very convincing but how else one could get the ‘people’ experience. Ok, here is the truth - I badly wanted to piss. There, I said it. Every bloody mall or supermarket was closed, thanks to Easter. I ended up circling nearly the whole of Swansea by foot. In the process found some nice place to hang-out. The act was finally performed inside a disused stadium. Somehow making my way back, my friends did the same act inside a 5 star hotel pretending as interested customers! Meanwhile, something even more interesting happened. The entire beach had disappeared! The sea swallowed it up in high tide, which rose so quickly that Sauji had to remove his shoes while running to prevent them from getting wet!

Thanks to my city exploration, we found some fantastic dance clubs and a fabulous crowd. After dancing to the tunes of our fav numbers and some brain numbing trance, we returned to our hostels. This time, thankfully, we had a bed!

Has it ever happened to you that you wake up and suddenly find yourself amidst heavenly surroundings? No I’m not talking about near death experiences, but something equally breathtaking. When Dawn tore down the inky black curtains of the night, we couldn’t quite take our eyes off (neither stop drooling at) this romantic town. The hotel partially surrounded afar by a chain of steep rock faces. Further near the sea you would find narrow piers reaching out into the sea towards a vanishing point, an inviting pebble beach and breezy walkways. The pebble beach was fascinating; one could easily find 10-12 different kinds of smooth pebbles by a cursory observation. We moved on from this really beautiful place with immense reluctance.

Thirsty for adventure, we tried climbing a hill in our car. We barely managed to burn our tires and had to abort the mission. Armed with the laptop, I took upon myself the role of the navigator. I had literally downloaded an entire website about North Wales. I spotted Convy and immediately fell in love with the castle in the picture. So Convy it shall be. Already this do-it-yourself-tour was feeling good. The Toyota was simply superb, amazing sound system and excellent manoverability. Ashish did most of the driving and Sauji was our backup. Bhute was the distant runner-up backup. Playing soulful Hindi melodies and cruising down a lush greenscape reminded me of a scene from ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ where the lead trio escapes to Goa. This was so unbelievably cool.

By the time we reached Convy the castle greeted us from the other side of the lake. This island promises many, many hours of intriguing sights. From the smallest house in Britain to the tall, wide fortress that circles the town. The most interesting of which is the Convy castle itself which has remarkably sustained the last couple of hundred years. One would take hours to simply walk around, climb up the stairs to a nearly 6 storied view of the island complete with the trio of bridges that connect it to the main land and the many yatches and speedboats in the wonderful blue stretch in between.

While running down like school kids down the enormous stairway by the hill, we apparently received a lot attention. Everyone was in their frolicking holiday mood and so were we. All the while the sand in the hourglass swiftly slipped away and, a quick munch later, we once again had to tear ourselves from yet another wonderful place.

We did book for a hostel the next night, but this night we had no where to stay. We decided to drive to Cardiff overnight, so as to catch the nightlife ‘in time’. I donned the navigator’s cap and chalked out the route. Soon enough, we were in the brightly lit streets of Cardiff. Already with the distaste of the Landudno experience and still wearing the same old trainers (well, we didn’t have a spare) we were sceptical. But there did hit the party zone and, boy, we had a groovy time. Ankur was perhaps at his all time best. Sauji did stylishly stick on to some Dharmendra moves. They even played my request- Punjabi MC the Knight Rider mix. We even taught some girls some Bangra moves. They were delighted.

After three hours of dancing, we resumed our journey at 3:30 am. Once again at the navigator’s seat, we proceeded towards our hostel at Carmarthen. We had some difficulty in finding our ‘International’ hostel in some villa’s backyard, but even more taxing was waking up the owner as it was just 5 in the morning! To cut the long story short, our room was not yet ready. Some of us slept on the sofa and some in the car. The former woke up with bent backbones and the latter with chattering teeth.

Trapped in the endless cycle of birth and rebirth of software project lifecycles, my mortal lifecycle seemed to have lost track of which avatar or version I’m currently running on. My rebellion is my hairstyle. It resembles a tiny rainforest rooted on my scalp. Picture me with a mid-parting and a clean shave, and you will be there. The best part is I didn’t realise how ‘advanced’ the growth was till I saw tears swelling in the eyes of a middle aged Thai couple. They thought they found their long lost son!

Holi was not as much fun as it was supposed to be. We thought we would turn up in traditional wear in the office in true cultural spirit. Seeing the sea of puzzled face around us we realised Kurtas and Saris do not exactly blend-in in a British office. Unfazed we began the four day Easter trip planning. It was not too late; after all we still had whole twelve hours left for packing, hostel reservations and taking printouts. Oh! Did I mention we are renting a car? Oh yes we did. The plan was to start on Saturday morning. And as most plans go, yours truly proposes and the dispassionate Almighty disposes. Ashish and Sauji (Ankur’s friends) managed to get stuck in the wonder-maze called London for 3 hours in the wee morning hours. Armed with nothing but a set of colour printouts from the net- Bhute, Ankur and myself, got cracking on the maze. In half an hour, London was way behind us.

Zipping at 100 miles an hour, we had to decide our first destination in Wales for the night. It had to be somewhere in Northern Wales. After enquiring around, we concluded that Landudno would be the only place with rooms left so late this Easter season. We finally found a really comfy place to stay for £25 per head. By the time we reached there, I looked like a velichappadu (a male temple oracle with a frayed hairdo).

The clock complained that it was nearly midnight, but we were still full of beans. Time to see the nightlife! Despite the time, every lane had a merry crowd or sometimes more than a crowd. The espionage reports were indeed true. This place is much better than the sleepy streets of London. We even managed to get free passes to a hip-looking club called ‘Buzz’. But the happiness was short lived as they shrugged us off seeing us in trainers (British-ism for sport shoes or sneakers). Multitude of twinkling lights blankly stared at us in the beautiful promenade of this seaside town. And even more blankly we stared back. Many swear words later, we all hit the sack. We must have all dreamt of an alternate ending, the one without the trainers :wink:

Quick. Which is the only profession in which you can afford to be wrong every single day? Weather Forecasting, of course. Britain, perhaps by virtue of being an island, has a notoriously varying climate at any given point of time. Most of the time the recorded temperature displayed at train stations is a joke, due to varying winds. It only takes a wrong turn into an alley on a rainy day for you to fall victim to eccentric gales. The only thing predictable about these blasts of chilly air is the direction they choose – Diametrically opposite to the way you hold your umbrella, of course. One of my friends, less familiar with these eccentricities, had to buy 4 umbrellas in one month! Eventually, he got smarter and started using a raincoat.

Sainsbury, the only affordable supermarket here, makes me take a long detour on the way home. Eventually I drag myself up the stairs to my bedroom. I release the bag of groceries from my left hand. As cold as ice, the fingers slowly feel each other’s dulled presence. My right hand was nestled in the pocket of my leather jacket is much more alive. I bring them together. It is almost as if a stranger placed his hand on mine. Next I do what come naturally to me. My rightie deftly massages my leftie back to life.

Today, Dinky (one of my best friends) just told me over messenger an amazing piece of news. He will be traveling to US for a short term transfer. He would be in Texas and staying with his cousins. In fact that is exactly where Archie is. So there you see, world is indeed a small place!

I have wondered how one word descriptions would go for certain people. Let’s start with easy ones:

A footballer is a person who plays football A fisherman is a person who catches fish A comedian is a person who acts comically And…. Arun Ravindran is a person who always keeps reading

Well, this profound insight can be easily proven if you know my daily routine. The moment my mecum covered eyes crack open late morning, I fumble for my mobile phone to read the time. At the station, I read the next available train timing. I read Metro while traveling in the tube. Once I’m at office, I spend almost all my time reading numerous documents either on my PC or printouts. As a persistent hangover from my days on bench (a term for no project assigned), I read/browse hundreds of web pages for news and trivia. Thanks to the huge void in my life brought by the absence of a TV (fondly referred to as telly in the UK), I spend my time creatively reading books or Sunday supplements.

Now that you know what kind of creature I am, it must come as no surprise to you that I have managed to get a library membership in London. Jason Goode, a really friendly guy in my office, managed to lead me into the maze called Barbican Center. The membership was free and one can take up to 12 books for 3 weeks. You can reissue by phone up to 3 times. Though lacking in the technology section, it was well stacked in varied fields of art. I spend many delightful moments discovering sections unheard of such as Paranormal Studies, Videography etc. I managed to find 2 books on photography. Owing to their picture-book format, I have lapped them up in no time. As a strange consequence, I now find myself reading more information in every photograph I put my eyes on. Seems some creatures never change, they just evolve ;)

As we walked towards the wooden entrance amidst this forest-like surroundings, we felt suddenly inside a Mayuryan courtyard. A flock of peacocks await us decked in their colorful plumes. What a breathtaking reception to the Loveliest Castle in the World – Leeds Castle. Surrounded by a beautiful lake which functions as a moat, the castle is home to more than 400 birds from all over the world. It affords you a trip back in time when these extravagant monuments built in stone were winter or summer homes. I have never seen the interiors of a palace before and hence the experience was delightful. Typical of any castle every painting had a story to tell. One striking portrait was of three ladies who were erstwhile royal inhabitants. Between them they shared 7 husbands or so. The dominant lady in the picture was a chain smoker and it shows even in the painting. A great deal of information about coat of arms, an inherited symbol denoting a family, is on display. From the wine cellars to creaking banquet halls, a spooky feeling can be felt everywhere, thanks to hundreds of horror movies in such settings. In an unbelievable coincidence, I met Avinash Bhat, my classmate at TAPMI while touring the castle.

Have you ever solved a maze from inside it? Well, maybe if you play a lot of 3D games. It’s easy to get lost in the Leeds’ maze made of hedges. But with a little persistence you reach the center with a prized view of the vineyard. The surroundings of the castle is spell binding. It is an ideal place to bring your romantic partner along. Swans, the symbol of eternal love, of different kinds have made Leeds their home. I had Fish ’n Chips, the national delicacy, for lunch and quite enjoyed it. All in all, a very pleasant trip.

Click here to see one of my most beautiful albums

Carefully posing myself next to Beckam I’m wondering ‘Is he really this short?’ I’ve heard he is a six-footer, but perhaps he has hunched up for the in-the-middle-of-the-run pose. It’s a lovely hall; all lit up for partying and one can’t help bumping into celebrities. Yikes, my chance has come to pose next to Madonna! Somewhere nearby Arnie stands tall in my all time favourite Terminator costume and cool makeup. Would have anybody believed it if told them? Sometimes your camera can be a life saver. Check out the snaps.

Am I kidding you? Not really. We were kidding ourselves. The party is at Madame Tussauds and the celebrities are just plain wax models. But what they have essentially tried to capture is a moment in the glam world. A moment which we would love to be a part of (judging from the enormous amounts glossy trash that gets consumed in the name of magazines and tabloids). There are moments when you confuse between the wonderstruck onlooker and a lesser known wax model. You might even reach out to touch, but then….Oops!

Tussauds is a very tourist oriented experience. But it’s worthless if you don’t carry an essential tool – a camera. I don’t deny that there are thrills. Chamber Live! For example is a dungeon with live actors dressed up to resemble gruesome serial killers. But, somehow the killers took fancy only on the women and children. Coz by the time we hear a scream and run up to the spot, the ‘murderer’ would be smirking affably in a corner hiding for the next ‘victim’. Deprived of even a single horror experience, we somewhat enjoyed the London History ride due to its colourful three dimensional experience.

Keen that fireworks by the Thames (or more accurately by the London Eye giant wheel) should not be missed on this particular day, we planned to move accordingly. Coming from the land of deafening and scintillating fireworks displays, Thrissur; I had a unique opportunity to compare traditional Chinese fireworks and modern electronic pyrotechnics. Simply due to the fact that they are electronically ignited allows for more controlled and spectacularly synchronised effects. The London Eye was effectively portrayed many times as a gigantic fiery windmill with fluorescent strands. Another camera-happy moment for me [Snaps are here]. I naturally put my A95 in Fireworks mode which, I later realized, makes for long exposure times. Hence a tripod would have been handy, though I cannot imagine a spot to place it in that dense crowd. Swarms were pouring into stations in such numbers that police stepped in for crowd management. The huge water dispensing trucks could be also spotted at some places. Again, quite thoughtfully, portable toilets were installed at ‘strategic’ points. Despite all this, beer bottles would get smashed and an odd ruckus would start at some distant street.

People were generally in the pink of health, not because of healthy diets, but because of all-night pubbing:wink:. However, most of them were in the best of their ‘spirits’. One actually came up to us, as we passed by, claiming he had an Indian friend and would like to wish a wonderful new year to all Indians ….. He continued bawling his ode to whoever holding him upright. We simply kept walking, thinking smug in our minds ‘We share yur feelin, mate!’