NASHUA - NEW HAMPSHIRE, USA

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LAS VEGAS

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LOVE IS WORTH THE STRIFE

In days of wait, the hope shall fade,

For the revival, the chances are bleak

But I think for life to be re-made

It’s better, that I shall not speak

Waiting for you to come back in life

Is completely worth though, you ain't my wife

Else I shall lose someone special

Who made me believe that love is worth the strife

Yet, neither did we love nor did we sleep

But there were promises made to keep

HELP ME SACK MY LIFE

You may be gone, you may forget me

But dear, don’t ever miss me

As that would be a pain that can let me

Yell and scream in agony of not being there for u

You have come, we have done

And in a moment, you have gone

Now I stand, at the same place

With a face that’s known to be all alone

Thanks for the time, being with me

Though I know you shall never be back

I still take however this feeling will be

Coz that will help me just sack my life

ROMANCE AND CIGARETTES (2005) - ENGLISH

Sexiest Musical ever. A movie all about sex and music.

Not sure what the writer director John Turturro wanted to venture before writing this film. But once he wrote, it clearly came as he wanted it. The songs are meticulously chosen and the lip sync done by actors adds up to the music.

This movie is about marital issues in simplest terms. But there are layers which just keep coming along. 

James Gandolfini as Nick Murder has too many issues at home to deal with. If he deals with his wife, he would deal with all the issues. But sadly, he just cannot leave his wife. A shameless husband he is.

Kate Winslet as Tula, the lingerie seller add so much life and color to her character that whenever she is turned on, she becomes the dirtiest woman. She is so naturally good I feel, he acceptance of this movie just re establishes her liking for meaty roles. 

Susan Sarandon as Kitty, Nick's  wife just does what she believes is right for the scene. She is yelling or aggressive at Nick and has fun with her ex lover Angelo.

The characters are sketched out from cliches and are written from director's brain which is so damn tough to decipher. Any film can end in any way, but life ends in one way only that is death. Do I need to say more. The story of infidelity was never told more beautifully or comically or even sexually.

There are so many other characters like Nick's friend or Nick's daughters who are so very cliched and just speak as they should. Acting is superb as expected but what takes the acting to a higher altitude is the dialogues. Each dialogue makes the character in itself interesting.

I watched this film just be seeing the poster and getting to know that Barton FInk's John Turturro has directed it and was blown away by the time i finished watching.

It's good in every which I shall say, but i's a tad longer than expected. Yet, it makes a great watch. I am unhappy that I missed such an opportunity to see it in theater but now, I have seen and am happy.

I would go with 4/5 for one of the best musicals ever. And it's very good to see a movie for not taking the point it wanted to say seriously.

BEAUTY AT SHORE

Smooth as Silk, one of the best black and white photo by me. At Daytona Beach, Florida

ANAND (1971) - HINDI

The first few lines of Amitabh Bachhan as Dr. Bhaskar Bannerjee in this movie are

Maantaa hoon is yeh zindagi ki taakat maut se zyada badi hai

Lekin yeh zindagi kya maut se badtar nahi?

College se degree lete hue zindagi ko bachaane ki kasam khaayi thi

Aur ab aisa lag raha hai, 

jaise kadam kadam par maut ko zindaa rakhne ki koshish kar raha hoon

I agree that life has greater strength than death

But isn't life worse than death

I vowed to save lives when I took my degree

Now I feel, I am trying to keep death alive at every step.

Sheer poetry and my eyes became wet. Then the dialogue, 

Hey Ramu Kaakaa khaanaa lagaao 

Shaadi karne se toh khaanaa achha hai

So thats the how the whole movie runs it gives lumps in throat and follows with a smile on face.

Anand : Zindagi Badi Honi Chaahiye Lambi Nahi 

Life has to be big not long

Jab tak zinda hoon tab tak maraa nahi

Jab margaya saalaa main hi nahi

As long as I live, I am not dead

And once I am dead, I am just no more

Just each dialogue as the film rolls on teaches so much more.

Now, let me officially begin the review.

It's one of the most heartfelt movies that moves in a way that you are aware of the inevitable destiny but you just dont want to let him go. Damn, life is so very cruel, it takes even the best for a ride and ends abruptly.

Anand knew his destiny and he wanted to live every moment of it, so did I as saw each scene of the movie. However disconnected the other person his, Anand makes a connection in every which way and all the characters along with myself as an audience hoped for a different ending which was not to be.

I saw this movie innumerable times (which means just too many) and each time, I had tears in my eyes, the climax is simply unbearable for me but I just watch it all through each time. There is no fast forward or rewind button in life and that applies to this movie. Each time I start this, i just complete it.

Rare to see movies as good as this. How much ever I appreciate I very deeply feel that is too very less.

Dialogues by Gulzar are impeccable, editing, screenplay and direction by Hirshikesh Mukherjee and all alive and they are characters no more, those are alive beings and Anand is a prime example of a willing to live protagonist. The sotry and characters are simply heart touching and deeply moving. 

But Rajesh Khanna brought life to Anand is his very own way and his charm, there is that subtle warmth that you always want to meet him and see him in full life. Amitabh brought his very own dignity to Dr. Banerjee. 

All other characters played their roles very well. 

Can't say much with moist throat and eyes. It's undoubtedly 5/5 and one of the best indian films ever. It will defineitely move every indian who watches it. I am pretty happy to see this time and over again.

THE ARTIST (2011) - ENGLISH

A silent spectacle. One of the toughest films in recent times.

Right from the first frame, it engrossed me, pulled me into it, made me laugh at it and also made me think at times, without even a word being uttered on screen. Sheer beauty and exquisitely performed by the artists. It's a highly appreciable thing that audiences have embraced this film but what is more appreciable is the fact that there are people who would still love to make such movies. It's the same wine in new bottle, just that it caters to tast of the new audience which is 'said to be intelligent'.

A simple conflict of whether an artist likes sound in movies or not, is drawn to magnanimous proportions and one scene where the glass sound, the laughs of girls come along portray how much he is stuck and in love with silence. He is overtly adamant about silent films than being passionate about them. He hates the sound so much that he goes to even end his life, on hearing people speak. Such a character is tough to portray and Jean Dujardin does emote exceptionally well. 

The dog named Uggy who is the hero and as written in the film, "He owes his life to the dog" has done a remarkably good job. The art direction was outstanding and so was the choreography. The music complemented each scene well whether it is the initial part of cinema where he performs for audiences, the comic sequences or the dramatic part. Also, the screenplay just flew. 

Having said all the above, there are a few dislikes of which few are 

1) This film has a completely predictable storyline, in fact me and my friend were talking to each other what would happen next and it turned out to be same

2) The story in itself is too very common and so is the treatment

3) The actress Berenice Bejo was good at places and at few times was just awkward, example the way she speaks to George Valentin on the stairs was like making a spoof of the old silent films.

4) Oh yes, its just too melodramatic, the final climax where she rushes in car as if she would definitely do an accident was uncalled for.

So going out with 3/5. Having said about the flaws, I would still say it's a must watch for those who love cinema for the way cinema is. I loved it, coz I go for cinema to be taken into it and pulls me into a path that it builds for me, and this movie did that in every sense to me. This is for sure, is the best actor movie I saw in recent times.

SPIRITUAL SMOKE

Smoke from an Incense Stick, En route Yamunotri,  Himalayas,  India

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962) - ENGLISH

A compelling drama and a best written work for celluloid as far courtroom drama goes.

Written as a novel and adapted as a screenplay, made as a film, the century's most widely known novel is one of the finest pieces of writing.  Now, you have half job done, the best work is written, but Robert Mulligan as a director has to handle a tougher task, he has to bring a well written and much known work with life and living characters onto the screen. Man, he does this job with flying colors. Firstly, the acting be it a Tom Robinson or a Mayella or a lesser known Cunningham, all have done exceptionally well. Above all stands, Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch, a disciplined father and a lovable one indeed. He brings life to a character of rare dignity that is realistic yet ideal.   

Told through the eyes of a small girl Jean Finch, this story is one good one to hear or see. It has many moments that give us a lump in the throat. The climax is a befitting one and is symbolism of "Natures judgement". The courtroom acting of Tom Robinson and Finch and Mayella is enough to say that even for a brief 20 minutes of courtroom scene, this movie is still considered as one of the best courtroom dramas. That was the power and passion involved in the making.

Acting and wrting both are sublime and all else just falls in place, be it art direction or background score, they would have been good anyways, with the acting that we see it is obvious why it is hailed as a textbook for classic acting and same is the case with writing too.

I loved it and am hopeful any one who see it will. 

Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain,a knife and our lives. 

That dialogue summarizes most of the movie.

But the very point that is being said is humanism, we alienate humans with our own prejudices, be it a beggar or a toilet cleaner even guards at offices are not treated as humans as we feel as if we are above them, there is only color and it colorless, there is only one caste and religion that is humanity. 

It's a 5/5 without any doubt and please request all to see it. Have patience though,  we have to endure it.

Watch it for acting and writing above everything else.

BEAUTY OF GAIT

Seagull's Gait at Daytona Beach, Flordia, USA

DARK TUNNEL

I came across a funny dark tunnel

Having few gaps through which faint light came in

I had to fight the darkness all through

I had reached the other end without having to give in

But then came a friend after a hiatus

I rushed back to her with a well-done status

Now, I held her hand and made her understand

That these gaps are the ones she has to rely on

She began to walk but it was tough to stand

The darkness within even with me as company

These gaps will decide the fate

She wished, she had a better mate

Her mind was in a pendulum

Going to and fro on a swing

Her feet were crippling

And more too afraid to think

Now, these openings were betraying

They grew dim making the walk much grim

Even I, as her company had to stall my walk

And moreover, we could barely whisper, leave talk

These openings closed down and we were struck

In the tunnel, amidst the darkness

Now we are both in wait, for the light to clear

And for the darkness to fade

To help us celebrate as if a festival of lights

FLATTERED

The hair loosened on your shoulder
That makes each heart say "go and hold her"
The eyes are a temple of beauty
Looking them is a lovely duty
The nose is apt, like a sculpture
A perfect one, and just not a structure
The lips are small and yet they give a call
"for you girl, every boy would fall"

HUSBAND AND WIFE

One fine morning, when the sun was low

It was overcast, drizzle began pretty slow

I saw her walking in a dazzling gait

She for sure enjoyed with drizzle albeit

I was holding my teacup in room

Feeling that she was my bride and I her groom

While the pour began to hush, yet she began to rush

She ran and came into my home and gave me a push

Got her close and tight and she threw me off

Saying "Hubby, not today" and she flew off

I ran and ran around the house till I caught her

Held her up close and kissed her till sunset

THE APARTMENT (1960) - ENGLISH

As the poster says, there has never been anything like the Apartment.

A movie that begins with a man at his desk and then revolves between two places mostly, his apartment and his office and that involves humor in a way just as we talk, a wicked sarcasm hidden under the wraps of humour.

What makes The Apartment so very engaging is its acting and writing, both just go hand in hand, as written and directed by Billy, he extracted the exact output of what he aspired to, this reflection is evident in every frame. And this ability to extract acting as required per the script is what makes Billy Wilder one of the best directors. 

He took the writing seriously and wrote almost each dialogue and frame along with I.A.L Diamond, so well that I could just connect to everything that was going on screen. Jack Lemmon as Baxter is sublime and has that rarer innocent face, that does not need histrionics to act, but is so very natural. Shirley Maclaine as the very straight and at times funny Fran Kubelik, brought life into a character that was otherwise very casual. All other actors did their part so very aptly.

Now coming to other aspects, this film has such subtleties and are handled so very well without any noise, its a take into the psyche of each character and what is special is that we can firstly relate to chracters and even empathize to either one of them. So written ahead of it's time and acted superbly well, this is a classic that has stood the test of time. When I watched it even today, was so refreshing.

Thanks to Billy Wilder for presenting a great movie. It's 5/5.