Thursday, March 15, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Short Take: "This Means War" and "Friends with Kids".
We get it, romance has evolved with the changing times and the movies have to adjust to the new ways in which people meet and fall in love, however this shouldn't mean that in the process we also must relinquish our human dignity, something that This is War not only suggests but encourages.
Tuck (Tom Hardy) and FDR (Chris Pine) are two CIA secret agents who are "grounded" after ruining a mission and spend their boring office time trying to meet women. Tuck is a romantic with old fashioned ways who recurs to online dating to meet someone, FDR is a playboy who beds a different woman every night. They accidentally end up setting eyes on the same woman, consumer marketing expert, Lauren (Reese Witherspoon) who by dating different men finds the perfect outlet to escape from her ex-boyfriend's shadow, try out her wilder sexual side and practice housekeeping. Where the movie suggests that Lauren is a hands on, ultra feminist woman, the plot and character development merely make her dalliances look like irresponsible promiscuity and of course, she is the only one getting accused of it, the guys and their jobs make them look like heroes who have earned the right to use their security clearance to harass the woman they think they're in love with. For all its misogyny, double standards and ultra conservative morality (you know who Lauren will pick from the very start) the film's greatest mistake is how utterly joyless it feels. Witherspoon seems to have forgotten how to be bubbly and charming, while Hardy and Pine hardly make for heroes worth pining for. The only war this movie declares is one against the intelligence and taste of its audience.
If you were one of those die-hard fans who were craving a Friends reunion, Friends with Kids should be the movie to dispel those wishes. Even if it's in no way associated to the popular TV show, the film works as a post-finale version of it, given that it un-creatively matches three women with three men to create the same dynamic as the series. Two of the couples are together and have started families, the single friends are those eternal bachelor (Adam Scott) and bachelorette (Jennifer Westfeldt) who seem to enjoy their "freedom" too much to lose it just to fit in with social norms.
In order to prove how awesome they are, the two friends decide to have a child and raise it without the typical family structure, of course their plan backfires as the movie conservatively reminds us that friends can't have sex and remain just friends, that children need two parents to be happy, that marriage is something we should all aspire to, and an assortment of other stereotypes that romantic comedies and dramas have helped perpetuate.
The problem at this point isn't whether they are right or not (morality and ethics aren't as universal as we'd think) but that movies like these pretend they will defy the conventional, only to become even more stilted and predictable themselves. The ending in Friends with Kids for example seems to be straight out of a cheesy 80s movie and the thing is that writer/director Westfeldt does not deliver it with a wink, she really thinks her movie is sincere.
More than a decade ago, Westfeldt brilliantly explored alternative sexual orientations in the wonderful Kissing Jessica Stein, if the characters in her new movie spent doing as much melancholy but hilarious soul searching as the characters in that one did, instead of screaming, cursing and dashing off dinner tables when upset we might've had our hands on a movie with some insight. Instead what we get are grownups who have replaced toys with wine, espresso machines and cursing to hide the fact that they are really nothing but kids.
Grades
This Means War ½
Friends With Kids *
Tuck (Tom Hardy) and FDR (Chris Pine) are two CIA secret agents who are "grounded" after ruining a mission and spend their boring office time trying to meet women. Tuck is a romantic with old fashioned ways who recurs to online dating to meet someone, FDR is a playboy who beds a different woman every night. They accidentally end up setting eyes on the same woman, consumer marketing expert, Lauren (Reese Witherspoon) who by dating different men finds the perfect outlet to escape from her ex-boyfriend's shadow, try out her wilder sexual side and practice housekeeping. Where the movie suggests that Lauren is a hands on, ultra feminist woman, the plot and character development merely make her dalliances look like irresponsible promiscuity and of course, she is the only one getting accused of it, the guys and their jobs make them look like heroes who have earned the right to use their security clearance to harass the woman they think they're in love with. For all its misogyny, double standards and ultra conservative morality (you know who Lauren will pick from the very start) the film's greatest mistake is how utterly joyless it feels. Witherspoon seems to have forgotten how to be bubbly and charming, while Hardy and Pine hardly make for heroes worth pining for. The only war this movie declares is one against the intelligence and taste of its audience.
If you were one of those die-hard fans who were craving a Friends reunion, Friends with Kids should be the movie to dispel those wishes. Even if it's in no way associated to the popular TV show, the film works as a post-finale version of it, given that it un-creatively matches three women with three men to create the same dynamic as the series. Two of the couples are together and have started families, the single friends are those eternal bachelor (Adam Scott) and bachelorette (Jennifer Westfeldt) who seem to enjoy their "freedom" too much to lose it just to fit in with social norms.
In order to prove how awesome they are, the two friends decide to have a child and raise it without the typical family structure, of course their plan backfires as the movie conservatively reminds us that friends can't have sex and remain just friends, that children need two parents to be happy, that marriage is something we should all aspire to, and an assortment of other stereotypes that romantic comedies and dramas have helped perpetuate.
The problem at this point isn't whether they are right or not (morality and ethics aren't as universal as we'd think) but that movies like these pretend they will defy the conventional, only to become even more stilted and predictable themselves. The ending in Friends with Kids for example seems to be straight out of a cheesy 80s movie and the thing is that writer/director Westfeldt does not deliver it with a wink, she really thinks her movie is sincere.
More than a decade ago, Westfeldt brilliantly explored alternative sexual orientations in the wonderful Kissing Jessica Stein, if the characters in her new movie spent doing as much melancholy but hilarious soul searching as the characters in that one did, instead of screaming, cursing and dashing off dinner tables when upset we might've had our hands on a movie with some insight. Instead what we get are grownups who have replaced toys with wine, espresso machines and cursing to hide the fact that they are really nothing but kids.
Grades
This Means War ½
Friends With Kids *
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Style Sunday.
Julianne Moore has been making the rounds to promote Game Change, the movie where she plays former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Moore hasn't been sporting any pantsuits, fortunately and instead is giving us pure Hollywood glamour. She is divine in this lush Lanvin column dress. Moore rarely goes for black and white so she actually looks simply fresh in this.
Juli knows green does wonders to her complexion and it's always a thrill to see her wearing it. This avant garde Tom Ford design perfectly blends two shades of green in a dress that evokes both Joan Crawford and Tilda Swinton.
Do you love Juli on the red carpet too?
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Coolest hidden secret doors and rooms of real life
This post is on something we never in our wildest dreams even thought of talking about..! The Doors..! No, not that legendary band, but, actual doors..! When you will look at these doors, you will, in fact, won't believe that they are doors. So, just have a look at the following photos of the top 10 coolest secret hidden doors and you will surely be enthralled by them. At the end of the post you would surely think of having such a wonder to hide your private stuff room, just like the Dexter's Laboratory!
First up is the Home Theater Ticket Booth Hidden Door, which will easily confuse you for literally the name. If you can be creative enough, you can give your home theater, a near multiplex look. |
Second on the list is the bookcase door, which was much famous during the golden 'Dexter's Laboratory' times and hence you know these doors. |
Staircase hidden doors are basically Harry Potter influenced doors and you will see what I mean when you look at them. |
Fourth on the list are the Drawer Hidden doors, which (probably) were being searched by Jim Carrey in 'Bruce Almighty'. |
Narnia wardrobe doors are also a fantasy come true for many movie fans. Imagine opening your closet and an entire room pops up in front of you. |
Always wanted to come out of a fire place, just like those wizards on TV? Get this door fitted. This is the Fire Place Hidden Door. |
Victorian Façade Hidden Garage is the ninth door type, which will make you gasp in surprise. If no one mentions it, you will fail every time, to notice that this is a door to a garage. |
So many HP influences coming your way. The next on our list is the staircase hidden door, which is one of the coolest we've ever seen. |
Now, this tenth one has been done in many movies. The wall painting door is again a very cool way to troll your mates. |
Sheet-y Saturday.
Where we take a look at posters for upcoming features.
Up until a few minutes ago I had no idea what Moonrise Kingdom was about, now that I know, this poster is a thing of beauty. However before finding out what the plot was, the poster gave me a slightly creepy vibe, it reminded me of a Todd Solondz movie and we all know those aren't exactly fuzzy and cute.
What does the Moonrise Kingdom one-sheet say to you?
Up until a few minutes ago I had no idea what Moonrise Kingdom was about, now that I know, this poster is a thing of beauty. However before finding out what the plot was, the poster gave me a slightly creepy vibe, it reminded me of a Todd Solondz movie and we all know those aren't exactly fuzzy and cute.
What does the Moonrise Kingdom one-sheet say to you?
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Monsieur Hitchcock's Vacation.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Biggest largest and longest worms of all time : monster insects
Snakes aren't the only creepy crawling creatures which have the ability to scare the crap out of you, even worms can do that..! Well, when you see these pictures we have got for you, you will release stuff in your pants. These worms are so big that even some snakes will be ashamed for a second.
Look at these amazing worms (and their sizes - aren't you happy you are at home) we have selected for you and enjoy being daunted in your dreams. So, have a look at these biggest, largest and scariest worms of all time, their size generally ranges from 1mm - 10ft, but in this collection, we have brought some of the longest ones for you.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
The Devil Inside ½
Director: William Brent Bell
Cast: Fernanda Andrade, Simon Quarterman, Evan Helmuth
Ionut Grama, Suzan Crowley
If by any chance you hadn't had enough of the "found footage", "mock documentary" style of horror movie, here comes the one that should hopefully end it for good. The Devil Inside might just be the most preposterous entry in a filmmaking technique that peaked, and should've ended, with the superbly done The Blair Witch Project.
This one focuses on that oh-so-tired mean of scaring audiences: the exorcism and sets the first part of its story in the 80s where a woman (Crowley) murders three clergy members who were performing an exorcism on her. The Catholic church intervenes, without acknowledging the truth of what happened, and has the woman moved to Rome (as if an American citizen would really be moved to a foreign country just because...) where she remains hospitalized for twenty years, until her daughter Isabella (Andrade) packs her bags and goes to Europe, accompanied by a camera guy (Grama) who's making a movie about her case.
In Rome, Isabella realizes her mom might be possessed by demons after all and with the help of two new age-y priests (Quarterman and Helmuth) tries to rid her of them.
As with the Paranormal Activity movies, the only real appeal in this one is figuring out how they will use special effects without messing up the DIY aesthetics. Smart visuals of course, might be the lowest priority behind The Devil Inside which relies on tired stereotypes about the Catholic church, exorcisms and horror.
There is not a single moment in the movie that can be deemed scary, unless you count the whole experience of watching this instead of reading a book or having a good meal as timely reminders of mortality and wasting one's time.
There is one scene where Grama's character sits in front of the camera during a confessional moment, there he expresses his disgust with the way in which the demons and other characters have no regard for the filmmaker's duty. For one second the film seems like it might try and explore the harrowing experience of shooting something, an angle that would've been fascinating in this sub-genre that all but takes the camera for granted (have you noticed that nobody in these movies ever drops or leaves behind the camera?) but before you can say "the power of Christ compels you", it's back to its old, cheap trickery.
The Devil Inside for all that matters isn't even a complete movie as it reaches a rushed, halfway there climax that leaves the plot incomplete...Not that anyone would want to spend more time in its company any way.
Cast: Fernanda Andrade, Simon Quarterman, Evan Helmuth
Ionut Grama, Suzan Crowley
If by any chance you hadn't had enough of the "found footage", "mock documentary" style of horror movie, here comes the one that should hopefully end it for good. The Devil Inside might just be the most preposterous entry in a filmmaking technique that peaked, and should've ended, with the superbly done The Blair Witch Project.
This one focuses on that oh-so-tired mean of scaring audiences: the exorcism and sets the first part of its story in the 80s where a woman (Crowley) murders three clergy members who were performing an exorcism on her. The Catholic church intervenes, without acknowledging the truth of what happened, and has the woman moved to Rome (as if an American citizen would really be moved to a foreign country just because...) where she remains hospitalized for twenty years, until her daughter Isabella (Andrade) packs her bags and goes to Europe, accompanied by a camera guy (Grama) who's making a movie about her case.
In Rome, Isabella realizes her mom might be possessed by demons after all and with the help of two new age-y priests (Quarterman and Helmuth) tries to rid her of them.
As with the Paranormal Activity movies, the only real appeal in this one is figuring out how they will use special effects without messing up the DIY aesthetics. Smart visuals of course, might be the lowest priority behind The Devil Inside which relies on tired stereotypes about the Catholic church, exorcisms and horror.
There is not a single moment in the movie that can be deemed scary, unless you count the whole experience of watching this instead of reading a book or having a good meal as timely reminders of mortality and wasting one's time.
There is one scene where Grama's character sits in front of the camera during a confessional moment, there he expresses his disgust with the way in which the demons and other characters have no regard for the filmmaker's duty. For one second the film seems like it might try and explore the harrowing experience of shooting something, an angle that would've been fascinating in this sub-genre that all but takes the camera for granted (have you noticed that nobody in these movies ever drops or leaves behind the camera?) but before you can say "the power of Christ compels you", it's back to its old, cheap trickery.
The Devil Inside for all that matters isn't even a complete movie as it reaches a rushed, halfway there climax that leaves the plot incomplete...Not that anyone would want to spend more time in its company any way.
Short Take: "Young Adult" and "A Dangerous Method".
The biggest problem with all of Jason Reitman's movies is that his characters never humanize the nifty, clever concepts they represent. Juno for example, never really was more than a smart-ass teenager who failed sex-ed, Ryan Bingham from Up in the Air failed to becomes something more than a symbol of the recession and his female sidekicks in that one, were flat portrayals of society's insistence that women must play either whores or ice-queens.
It results pleasantly surprising then to find a real human being in what posed to be Reitman's most artificial character yet. Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) had all the potential to become a caricature: a beautiful but emotionally hollow divorcee, who writes young adult fiction and decides to visit her hometown just to get her high school boyfriend (Patrick Wilson) back.
Yet what Theron does defies expectations of both the character and the actress' own ability to use her beauty to construct an even more beautiful performance. Mavis is quite an ugly person, she drinks too much, holds contempt for everyone she knows and seems to have no regard whatsoever for anything or anyone that isn't her. As written by Diablo Cody, Mavis has remained trapped in eternal adolescence, she is the ultimate "mean girl". As played by Theron she is a flawed human being who has earned a right to be this way. The actress doesn't look for easy explanations, other than the fact that Mavis is truly a unique person who can not be defined by societal standards. It's a pleasure to see Theron, for once, collaborating with her extraordinary physique; she doesn't hide it under makeup, prosthetic pieces or miner wear, she owns up to it in such a way that during the movie's most tender scene, she actually allows herself to be "ugly" selfconsciously. She also displays a knack for comedic timing (she and Patton Oswalt make the most unique comedy duo of 2011) and if anything else, she proves that the best acting comes from within. Check out the last scene in this movie, you never get to hate and love someone this much.
The issue is that this time around, the characters are real life people and quite notorious for that matter. The plot centers on the relationship between Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley) and her psychoanalysts: Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) and Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen). Spielrein goes from being Jung's patient, to becoming his mistress which leads to melodramatic consequences and her eventual treatment with Freud.
For decades, David Cronenberg has been one of the most consistent researchers of what moves human sexuality and what desire consists of. It makes sense then that he would try to get to the essence of it by studying the men who obsessed over this as much as he did.
If Cronenebrg movies prove something is that the erotic element can be completely removed from intercourse and added to different elements. "Pleasure is never simple" adds one of the characters in this movie and the truth is that Cronenberg has been much more successful in exploring the complicated turns of sexuality in movies like Crash and even A History of Violence which successfully links the thrill of crime with the jolt achieved during an orgasm.
The film feels too polished for the subject it explores and its intellectualism is too often stalled by Hampton's excessive theatricality (the screenplay was based on his eponymous play). Perhaps the problem is that the movie is stuck between wanting to be a biopic and an auterist essay. Needless to say so, the cast is truly extraordinary with Mortensen creating a Freud for the ages. The actor infuses the famed analyst with his knack for knowing more about a character than he lets the audience knows. Watching his subtly passionate attempt to convince Jung of his beliefs is a true joy to watch and considering he could've spent the movie smoking cigars and mimicking Freud, his performance taps into something far more extraordinary.
The movie however owes itself to Knightley's brilliant work who as Spielrein gives the best performance of her career. Allowing her body to transform itself as Sabina endures the pain of her disorder, the actress disappears only to then blossom as her character finds new hope through intellectual development.
Grades
Young Adult ***
A Dangerous Method ***
Monday, March 5, 2012
The biggest and largest super tanker ship of the world : 'Jahre Viking'
Setting a landmark in the infinitely huge seas and oceans has always been one of the biggest desire of man. Now, with the term landmark we mean that something which is the biggest and the largest ship of water transport vehicle built ever. This post is dedicated to such a man mad wonder i.e. the 'Knok Nuis Ship' and it is certainly the most giant and biggest super-tanker floating in water. When it was built, it used to have a capacity of around 5,65,000 tons and it was around 1,500 feet in length which is truly surprising. However, the makers of the ship were not satisfied even by these powerful capabilities of the ship and they decided to enhance it further which resulted in its renovation. With the up gradation, its capacity increased by around 87,000 tons. This new renovated mega ship was renamed as 'Jahre Viking'. But its true that flexibility in motion and size are inversely proportional to each other and this super tanker is not an exception to this fact. This huge boat is extremely difficult to steer as it can enter only some of the ports among which the names of the Panama and the Suez Canals are not present. Jahre Viking was anchored in the Persian Gulf and currently it functions as the storage reserve of crude oil. The present capacity of it is mind-boggling 6,47,955 tones which roughly means around 4 Million oil barrels. In terms of length, you will be enthralled to know that it is even higher then the Petronas tower and stands 4th if placed on the list of the highest skyscrapers of the world. To get a rough estimate regarding the size and magnificence of this ship, the following fact might help you : that with a single delivery of the crude oil present on this ship, it can feed the fuel for the world economy to run for around 2 days! The previous fact justifies the presence and construction of these kind of structures, however the risk accidents associated with them possess a mighty risk to the economy as well as to the environment which is no-doubt the most important think for all kind of species to exist. Anyways, have a look at the photo collection of this largest super taker of the world which can be truly called as the 'symbol of sea transportation'.
Head over to PopMatters and read my review of A Star is Born.
'Legoland Deutschland' Germany : Amusement park having biggest and best lego creations
Aeroplanes at airport |
Boat and Dockyard |
Cruise |
Train |
Beautiful tower |
Castle |
Clock tower |
suspension bridge |
Airplane |
complete town |
Big ships and harbour |
populated building |
Football/Soccer Stadium |
Building replica |
railway transport |
big machines : crane |
monument and statues |
From a distance, these are normal looking spots but they will raise your eyes when you move closer, because they are so naturally artificial..! The Legoland consists all the features that you can imagine to be present in a small city, it has vehicles, buildings, towers, machines, stadiums and the best thing is that they all are made up with lego bricks. This man made wonder was created by the residents of the town and it has been named as the "Legoland Deutschland". Being spread in a huge area of around 107 acres, the place consists of replicas of the most famous marvels and buildings made by man in the world of civil engineering. It can be truly called a lego city having the biggest, largest and most finest creations done with lego. We got these pictures for you to see as we know most of you won't make it to Germany in your entire lives..!
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