Innovative Background score

Atonement turned out to be a brilliant movie. A simple tragic love story which gets epic status due to the World War II era it is staged in and its background score.

The singular roborant soundtrack by Dario Marianelli is out of this world. Particular attention must be paid to the effective use of the typewriter as a musical instrument. The typewriter motif is used as the signature theme for the central character of Briony. Briony, through the course of the movie, is an instigator, a catalyst and sometimes just the narrator. What she is, in essence, is a writer. The typewriter is her 'weapon' of choice in all instances except two - once in a tranquil setting by a pond she uses a pen and in a much more intense setting, in front of the police, she uses her mouth. In all other instances, her fantasies are rallied through a faithful typewriter. The movie brilliantly uses the rhythmic tapping of the typewriter whenever Briony takes a bow. I am guilty of not reading Ian McEwan novel the movie is based on. Just from watching the movie, it feels like the typewriter was designed to be a natural extension to the character of Briony by the author. There are many instances in the celluloid world where innate objects become an integral part of a story. Briony's typewriter should rank among the top of those imaginative creations. There is an equally brilliant use of an umbrella banging on a car to lead the audience out of an emotional scene.

When a slightly older Briony travels in a train in the middle of the movie we are invited to a re-rendition of the typewriter piece. Briony is lost in thought and is staring vacantly at the camera (perhaps at the stations passing by). The cinematographer gets into the mix as the light and shadows of the passing stations dance on her face to the tune of the typewriter motif. Light also comes into play when a weary soldier trudging through a dark murky forest takes a break, breathes in and a wave of sunlight caresses his face only to disappear when he reopens his eyes to reality. A wonderfully crafted scene.

The cinematographer also has a field day when given the opportunity to can a seemingly continuous five minute shot of three soldiers walking through the stranded army at Dunkirk beach. This trick is of course out of vogue now but gives an interesting view point to a crucial passage of play.

As a side thought, I have been trying to recall instances of songs are background scores that make use of day to day sounds. I could immediately recall "பருவமே (Paruvamae)" song from Mahendran's நெஞ்சத்தை கிள்ளாதே (Nenjaththai Killadhae) and the use of the train whistle in Mani Ratnam's தளபதி (Dhalapadhi). Ilaiyaraja being the man behind both those scores.

I am sure there are more out there. For now, I am wishing that my keystrokes translated into music...

Rajinikanth facts

On the eve of Kuselan's release, an open challenge to Chuck Norris.

Rajinikanth is not Kuselan but you will go to the movie for him

There is no I in team but there are two in Rajini

Rajinikanth can cook Maggi in one minute

Rajinikanth built the Himalayas for his summer retreat

FDA has warned tomatoes to avoid Rajinikanth

Light travels at the speed of Rajinikanth

When Rajinikanth rolls a stone it gathers moss.

Rajinikanth understands chaos theory and hence Dasavatharam

Rajinikanth has offered to acquire Microsoft

The world decides what to do each day after reading about it in Rajini's blog.

சௌந்தர்ய லஹரி - an introduction

ஆதி சங்கரர் பரமேஸ்வரனின் அவதாரம். மௌன நிலையில் இருக்கும் dhakshinaa மூர்த்தி தான் ஷங்கரர் உருவில் வேதங்களுக்கும் உபநிடங்களுக்கும் விளக்க உரை, ஸ்தோத்திரங்கள், வrதம் எல்லாம் பண்ணினார்.

ஆசார்யாளை ஈஸ்வரன் அம்பாள் இரண்டு பேரும் சேர்ந்த அவதாரம் என்று சொல்லவேண்டும். காரியம் இல்லாத பிரம்மம் சிவன். தக்ஷிணா மூர்த்தி ரூபத்தில் உள்ளே அடக்கிக் கொண்டிருந்த சித் சக்தியான அம்பாள் சங்கரர் உருவில் வெளியே ஆவிர்பவித்து இருக்கின்றாள். மாதா, பிதா, குரு என்று சொல்லுகின்றோம். ஜெகன் மாதாவும் ஜெகத் பிதாவும் சேர்ந்து இப்படி ஜெகத் குருவாக அவதரித்து இருக்கின்றார்.

இந்த உலகில் அனைத்தையும் நடத்தும் ஷக்தி பரப்ரஹ்மம். நிர்குனமான அறிவிற்கும் அப்பாற்பட்ட பரப்ரம்மத்தை உபாசிக்க முடியாதவர்கள் அதன் சக்தி இடம் மனதி பக்தி மார்கத்தில் திருப்பிவிட்டால் ஆத்மா ஸ்வரூபத்தை பற்றிய ஞ்யானம் பெற முடிகிறது. இதை அனுசரித்து பகவத் பாதாள் பக்தி மார்கத்தை ஞ்யான மார்கத்திற்கு பூர்வாங்கமாக வைத்து போஷித்தார். பாரதம் முழுதும் புண்ணிய ஸ்தலங்களுக்கு பாத யாத்திரை செய்து அங்கங்கே யந்திரங்களை ஸ்தாபித்தார். ஆலய பூஜா கிராமங்களை ஏற்படுத்தி கொடுத்தார்.

'சௌந்தர்யா லஹரி' ஆச்சார்யாரின் ஸ்ருஷ்டிகளில் உதித்த உன்னதமான பக்தி இலக்கிய காவியம். பகவத் பாதாளின் பிரதீபா சக்தியை காட்டும் சிதரமான சிருஷ்டி சௌந்தர்ய லஹரி தான். இந்த காவியம் சிகரினி என்னும் மீட்டரில் அமைந்துள்ளது.

சங்கரர் கைலாயம் சென்று பார்வதி பரமேஸ்வரனை தரிசித்தார் அப்போது ஈஸ்வரன் அவரிடம் ஐந்து ஸ்படிக லிங்கங்களையும் ஒரு சுவடி கட்டையும் குடுத்தார். சுவடியில் அம்பாளை பற்றிய நூறு ஸ்லோகங்கள் இருந்தன. பஞ்ச லிங்கங்கள் அரூப்பமான ஈஸ்வரன் அம்சங்கள். மந்த்ரமயமான ஸ்லோகங்கள் நூறும் அம்பாள் ஸ்வரூபம். ஷங்கரர் ஈஸ்வரனின் அவதாரம். கொடுத்தவர் (ஈஸ்வரர்) வாங்கிக்கொண்டவர் சங்கரர் (ஈஸ்வரர்) வாங்கிக்கொண்ட பொருள் (அம்பாள்) ஸ்லோகங்கள் எல்லாமே ஒன்று தான். இதிலே அத்வைதம் த்வைதம் இரண்டும் கலந்து விடுகின்றன. பஞ்ச லிங்கங்களையும் ஸ்தோத்ர சுவடியையும் பெற்று கொண்ட சங்கரரை நந்திகேஸ்வரர் வழி மறித்து அவர் கையில் இருந்த சுவடியை பிடித்து இழுத்தார். ஐம்பத்தி ஒன்பது ஸ்லோகங்களை நந்திகேஸ்வரர் தன்வச படிதிகொண்டார். இழந்த ஐம்பத்தி ஒன்ட்பது ஸ்லோகங்களையும் கையில் இருக்கும் நாப்பத்தி ஒரு ஸ்லோகங்களை சேர்த்து பூர்த்தி செய்ய வேண்டும் என்பதே அம்பாளின் ஆக்ன்யை போலும். கடல் மடை திறந்தது போல் ஷங்கரர் அம்பிகையை கேசாதி பாதமாக வர்ணித்து பாடி நூறு ச்லோகனகளையிம் பூர்த்தி பண்ணி விட்டார்.

நாம் அம்பிகையிடம் நீங்காத நிஜ பக்தி கொள்ள வேண்டும் என்ற ஒரே பலனை உத்தேசித்து சௌந்தர்ய லஹரி யை பாராயணம் செய்தாலே போதும். அவரவர் அனுபாவம் பக்குவம் படிப்பு பண்பு வாழ்கை நிலை ஆகியவற்றை பொறுத்து ச்லோகங்களுக்கு ஏராளமான உள் அர்த்தங்கள் தோன்றும்.

I saw 'The Dark Knight'

The joy of seeing a movie that exceeds the hype is the reason why I keep going back to the movies. Well, that and being surprised by a good movie that doesn't have any hype preceding it. As usual, as for any movie that I keenly anticipate, I avoided reading the reviews. I kept hearing the word 'awesome' in various forms by critics and casual bloggers everywhere. They were all right. I mean, it is a seriously good movie. To me, these days, a movie is good when you don't pause to think about the actors but only see them as the characters they portray. The level of over exposure of actors and even directors is highly distracting. Admittedly, it was a bit tough during this movie as Heath Ledger's face came to my consciousness a few times. I found myself trying to look past the calculated cheap make-up of the Joker. I think anyone will be hard-pressed not to do that. Despite that, you still get lost in the Joker character. This is a remarkable achievement by the director. I keep going back to the director. I wish I could soak in some of the thrill and pride he will be feeling right now. Christopher Nolan has delivered one of the best movies that I've seen. I personally think that he has reached the zenith of his career. He took a franchise that had dwindled down to a farce. He rebooted it with a vision that only an auteur can have. Psychological thrillers are his forte and he found the template adequately matched in the Batman world. What more can he possibly plan to achieve?

After restoring some faith in the Batman among the movie going public with Batman Begins, he has now assaulted our senses with a great follow-up act. I was particularly impressed with the casting. There are no show ponies here. The two movies (Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) are filled with character actors giving additional authenticity to the movie. Even the actors who tried out - the actors who auditioned for various roles in the movie and ultimately didn't make it - are greater talents than the staple Hollywood fare. A positive trend that hopefully will have more actors and less tabloid darlings headlining good movies.

The director's vision has been accompanied by a level of sincerity to the viewing public. It would be hard pressed to find a movie buff whose faith in 'The Batman' is not restored.

Finally, Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard. I can hear the theme music when I close my eyes. It has somehow got itself embedded into my sub-consciousness.

10 Lame Excuses For Missing THE DARK KNIGHT This Weekend

10 Lame Excuses For Missing THE DARK KNIGHT This Weekend | SpoutBlog

I reproduce this specifically for Mr.Domer who uttered the careless statement "I don't care much about Batman" and went on to say that the trailer was 'disappointing'.

Reproduced from the original SpoutBlog entry by Christopher Campbell

10. You Didn’t See Batman Begins - This should be a decent enough reason not to see TDK, except that apparently it’s not really necessary to see the previous installment. I’ve seen TDK called better than BB, I’ve seen it called The Godfather Part II of superhero movies and I’ve seen it called the Empire Strikes Back of the franchise. But more importantly, I’m pretty sure I read somewhere (or maybe I dreamed it) that TDK should be where Christopher Nolan’s take on the series begins. So just retrospectively consider BB a prequel.

9. You’re turned off by all the marketing - Sure, the Dominos pizza boxes and the Comcast ads were a bit much. And even before all the promotional tie-ins arrived, the different marketing strategies were obnoxious. But just think: if The Dark Knight doesn’t
actually break records this weekend thanks to your dollars, the next
big tentpole will only try harder and more annoyingly to woo you.

8. You’re going to see Space Chimps - Why? Because you have small children? Seriously, take them to see TDK.
They may be creeped out now, but they’ll thank you in twenty years. As
for the other big new release, you and your daughter really don’t want
to be fighting the fanboys at the box office just to see Mamma Mia! Do you? By the way, TDK has
the highest Rotten Tomatoes score of any movie opening this week —
foreign films included — so it’s not like you can use that pretentious
“better than” attitude this time.

7. You’re waiting until the IMAX showings aren’t all sold out -
This was actually my excuse at first. And really I should be seeing it
in IMAX first. But it could be weeks until the single screen in NYC is
no longer sold out, so I might as well just buck up and go see it on a
regular screen now and see it again in IMAX in a month. I’ll be able to
appreciate the grand visuals even more if I don’t have to pay as much
attention to the story anyway.

6. The only Bruce Wayne/Batman for you is Val Kilmer - Actually, it’s a scientific fact that Kilmer is not the best person to play any character. He comes pretty damn close with Jim Morrison, but the real-life Morrison was just a little bit better in the role.

5. The only Commissioner Gordon for you is the guy in Maximum Overdrive that calls everyone “Bubba.” -
His name is Pat Hingle, and I agree that he is one of the best
character actors working today. But, sorry, nobody beats Gary Oldman.
Even David Edelstein, who is one of like two critics to pan the film, celebrates Oldman’s involvement.

4. You already saw the trailers for Terminator Salvation, Twilight, Watchmen and even Body of Lies online -
Yeah, we all say that the trailers are the best part about going to the
movies. But this rare time that statement doesn’t apply.

3. You believe that seeing a big
Hollywood release on opening weekend further encourages the practice of
front-loading grosses and continues the damage done to both independent
film and the movie theater industry - Okay, this isn’t a lame
excuse at all. And I wholeheartedly support you on this issue. If you
seriously want to use this excuse, go right ahead. People are going to
call you a curmudgeon and tell you to have a little more fun in your
life, but your reasoning is completely valid.

2. You don’t want to exploit Heath Ledger’s death - If you show up to the movies this weekend, everyone’s going to think you’re one of the many just seeing the movie because of Ledger
— his death, not his performance, of course. But if you ignore the
movie because of this reason, meaning because he died, aren’t you still
exploiting him? And you’re missing an awesome movie, too.

1. What’s The Dark Knight?
- This is a tribute to David Letterman’s Top Ten #1s, which are usually
so snappy yet so unfunny. Really, though, if you didn’t know what The Dark Knight was, you wouldn’t be reading this list. Plus, even your grandma knows what it is.

Sholay: The Making of a Classic

Sholay: The Making of a Classic by Anupama Chopra

My review

Indian cinema is supposedly the busiest in the entertainment industry. In spite of this, there is very little that Indian movie buffs know about 'the making' of their favorite movies. Needless to say, I am one of those fore mentioned movie buffs. When so much trivia and anecdotes are available for Hollywood blockbusters, very little is know about Bollywood and Kollywood's behind the scene and beyond the scene activities. What we get to read are generally tabloid fare.
Anupama Chopra's collection of borrowed memoirs of a platinum classic does give temporary respite for... again the fore mentioned movie buffs.
If you have the remastered DVD, if you have the dialogs only audio CD/cassette, then you have to add this book to your shelf.


View all my reviews.

Babloo #06 - The Desi Alien

When a desi guy gets married he loses one identity and gains another. In between these two states though, for a brief period of time, is a state of vacuum. There is, on one hand, a stupid notion that he will not change... ever. Then, on the other hand, I have five fingers. Groucho Marx - stop it. Then, on the other hand, he is in fact being beaten up like a barrel full of grapes to produce the w(h)ine of life. This is a state none too different from that of zombies - neither dead nor alive - or bats - neither bird nor mammal. This is the period of time where he continues to fill forms and marks his marital status as single then scratches it and then marks it as married and feels guilty unsure of what he is guilty for. He cannot for the life of him, utter a conscious sentence that includes the word wife. The toughest is when accidentally he does blurt out - "I will have to check with my wife". Oh dear God - the cover up for that misquote is even worse than the actual quote. The only people who sneer at him for this quote will be his bachelor friends. Their approval still ranks highest in his psyche. So, there he is making forced jokes such as "of course, the wife is the boss... hee hee". Pathetic.

Once in a while, a moment of sheer madness forces him to accept a movie invite without consulting his wife. He then makes elaborate plans to

1) slip this movie plan in his wife's schedule

2) blame a bachelor friend into forcing this movie plan on him

3) suggest that the bachelor friend bought tickets without consulting him

The plans falter in the following steps

4) go to the movie theater

5) stutter while explaining why they are buying the tickets only now

6) sit through the movie going though various scenarios that can erupt once they are back home

The awkwardness reaches new levels during social occasions.  Baby showers - he is there among kids and married men with kids - his nemesis from the recent past. The only question he has for kids is "What is your name?". The only question he has for the married men is "What is your kid's name?". From then on it is a continuous lecture of self motivation - all in his head of course.

Even this shall pass.

Just two more hours and I can get out of here.

No one will make eye contact with me.

Followed by self doubt.

Where is the restroom?

I should have never come here.

What is this function - no baby and certainly no shower.

What is my name?

Yet, the cocoon does break and a butterfly does spread its wings. No one can pin point the exact day this happens. He makes her happy by surprising her with flowers. He cracks a joke that makes kids at a birthday party squeal with laughter. He discusses bank interest rates with their dads. He even compliments a couple of the moms in the party. An alien in his own world he ceases to be. He, the idiot that he is, now sniggers when a newly married nincompoop asks him the name of his kid.

The Boondock Saints aka Ashwini Kumarargal

Two brothers - fraternal twins - deeply religious become accidental heroes when they kill a mafia muscle. They see it as their true calling and work their way up the mafia food chain. An FBI agent is on their case from the beginning and becomes their number one fan. At some stage they start targeting all of society's filth and are joined in their efforts by a friend/comic relief and a senior vigilante. The story culminates in a truly escapist ending where they do away with the mafia chief in a courthouse and escape into notoriety with the FBI agent's help. They can be in any town and cleanse that town of evil.

The film looks brilliant whenever Willem Dafoe is in the scene. It slides into mediocrity otherwise. The ending is way too predictable for the build-up it has going towards it.

This is another film idea for the story starved Kollywood junta.

I present Ashwini Kumarargal - brothers out to heal the society. This is my kollywoodization of 'The Boondock Saints'. It has been a while since we saw one of those vigilante movies made popular by S.A.Chandrasekharan and his kin in the 80s. It is time for one of those heroine-less scripts to grace our cinema halls - all action - no nonsense. An item number is acceptable and in fact welcome. Maybe the brains behind Captain Prabhakaran and Pulan Visaranai can do this one. The only problem being the open invitation for Captain Vijaykanth to become part of the movie. This in turn means that Captain will have to do the role of Willem Dafoe - the FBI/CBI agent who goes after the vigilantes. Well, all this is nice but Willem Dafore doesn't play just any FBI agent. He plays a flamboyant openly gay FBI agent and also cross-dresses at one stage. Can Captain pull this off? Will we survive to review the movie if that happens. What am I doing here? I just suggested that Vijaykanth play a gay character. Thappu Thappu. Maybe we should rope in a lady to play this role albeit a straight lady super cop. I am spinning the roulette wheel here... and it stops with Tabu. Unless Vijayashanthi is planning a comeback. Bharath, Arya, Prasanna, Jeeva, Jayam Ravi... pick any two - they can be the chief protagonists with a equally young comedian sidekick. What say?

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

In the business world, the unanimous answer seems to be 'yes'. I came across this instance of plagiarism through itwofs.com. This is the bizarre case of blogger inji pennu vs. the portal kerals.com. It starts off as a 'simple' case of publishing unauthorized content and a complaint towards that but takes a nasty turn with a thamizhan against malayali angle thrown in for good measure. I went through most of the long post and was left flabbergasted at the chronology of events. This is truly bizarre.

The original post (albeit a lengthy one) can be found at

http://myinjimanga.blogspot.com/2008/06/stealing-threat-cyber-stalking-abuse.html

Hinduism hits late night television in the US

Political satirist, Colbert in his trademark style helps highlight the universal acceptance that is in this religion's core. No guilt. No sin. Just be who you are. Listening to Steven Carrel, whose roots are similar to Colbert's and in fact they are ex-colleagues from the Daily Show, their brand of humor was made to clear to me. These fake journalists portray themselves as jerks so that people will listen to the more saner person in the interview. Mainstream audience might be prejudiced to begin with against the people being interviewed. So, while Colbert makes silly comments and jokes around, the interviewee can get away with putting across his or her point to the audience. Not a bad strategy.

Thanks to helloji.wordpress.com for the original post to this video.

Jill Bolte Taylor: My stroke of insight

In one of his early movies, Vivek keeps repeating "Enna oru sindhanai!". One such sindhanai is "Accident aanaa Ambulance varum, Ambulance-ukke accident aana? Enna oru sindhanai!" Here, a brain expert suffers from a brain stroke and has an esoteric experience observing the way her brain is shutting off different functions one by one. Having recovered, twelve years hence, Dr. Taylor narrates her now famous stroke of insight.

Remembering Kalpana Chawla

Memoria

• Asteroid 51826 Kalpanachawla, one of seven citations named after the Columbia's crew^[18]
• On February 5 2003, India's Prime Minister announced that the meteorological series of satellites, "METSAT", will be renamed as "KALPANA". The first satellite of the series, "METSAT-1", launched by India on September 12 2002 will be now known as "KALPANA-1". "KALPANA-2" is expected to be launched by 2007.^[19]
• 74th Street in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City has been renamed 74th Street Kalpana Chawla Way in her honor.
• The University of Texas at Arlington (where Chawla obtained a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1984) opened a dormitory named in her honor, Kalpana Chawla Hall, in 2004.^[20]
• Kalpana Chawla Award award was instituted by the government of Karnataka in 2004 for young women scientists^[21]
• The girls hostel at Punjab Engineering College, is named after Kalpana Chawla. In addition, an award of INR twenty five thousand, a medal, and a certificate is instituted for the best student in Aeronautical engineering department^[22]
• NASA has dedicated a super computer to Kalpana.^[23]
• One of Florida Institute of Technology's student apartment complexes, Columbia Village Suites, has halls named after each of the astronauts, including Chawla.
• NASA Mars Exploration Rover mission has named seven peaks in a chain of hills, named the Columbia Hills, after each of the seven astronauts lost in the Columbia shuttle disaster, including Chawla hill after Kalpana Chawla.
• Steve Morse from the band Deep Purple created a song called "Contact Lost" in memory of the Columbia tragedy along with her interest in the band. The song can be found on the album, "Bananas".^[24]
• Kalpana Chawla has inspired several young Indians aspiring to be astronauts. ^[25]
• Her brother, Sanjay Chawla, remarked "To me, my sister is not dead. She is immortal. Isn't that what a star is? She is a permanent star in the sky. She will always be up there where she belongs."^[26]

 

Source: Answers.com