Monday, June 29, 2009
at
10:31 AM
Posted by
Naga
Director : Kabir Khan
Producer : Aditya Chopra, Yash Chopra
Starring : John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Irfaan Khan
Omar (Neil) is picked up by the FBI and detained for arms found in his owned taxi. Basically it’s a well planned set up by FBI officer Roshan (Irrfan) and his boss to get Omar agreeing on to work as an undercover agent for them and infiltrate the family the life of Samir (John) and Maya (Katrina) who were Omar’s college friends 7-8 years back. Roshan suspects Samir of running a sleeper terrorism cell and he wants to nab him red handed. Omar is left with no option but to comply with Roshan’s orders but he agrees on one condition that the FBI won’t kill Samir if he agrees to surrender. Years back when in college Omar, Maya and Samir were thick buddies and Omar silently loved Maya but when she expressed her love for Samir, Omar had gone away from them. What truth Omar uncovers when he meets Samir and Maya both now a married couple with a small kid Danielle and what it all leads to forms the rest of the film.
New York can easily be considered the best film to come out of the Yash Raj stable after Chak De India. Shot entirely in the US, the film not only is on par with the best of the Hollywood films made in this genre but is a completely different experience which the Bollywood audience is not used to. You are completely hooked from the first scene of the film when Neil is arrested by FBI and the interrogation that follows by Irrfan of Neil’s. The first half is extremely well narrated and keeps you constantly guessing as to what will happen next. The interval point is a shocker and you look forward to an exciting second half. But then the pace of the second half somehow doesn’t match up that of the first half and there are some predictable things in store. But nonetheless it is packed with some really great moments. The whole frisking episode of Katrina Kaif by a cop on the road late at night and the sequences that follow it linger on your mind for long. The climax though a bit word heavy is superbly shot as well. The torture scenes shown immediately post the interval send a shiver down your spine. Pritam’s music is easy on the ears and there are no lip sync songs to hamper the proceedings.
New York scores high in the acting department with each single actor delivering his/her best. John Abraham often termed as an expressionless actor has delivered his career’s finest performance. Katrina Kaif has finally got the meatiest role of her career and she has taken full advantage of it. She is very good in emotional scenes as well. Neil in a difficult part shines. Irrfan Khan never disappoints and here again he is in great form. His scenes with Neil and also his senior officer have turned out well.
New York takes up a topical theme and perfectly exposes the wily ways of the American FBI to which over hundreds of innocent Muslim people had fallen prey to post 9/11. It is a must watch for many reasons so just don’t miss it.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
at
12:35 AM
Posted by
Naga
Starring: Sasikumar, Vijay, Bharani, Ananya, Niveda, Abhinaya, Shanthini, Ganja Karuppu
Direction: Samuthirakani
Music: Sundar C babu
Production: Global Infotainment Pvt Ltd
Samuthirakani’s Naadodigal falls in the new genre created by the upsurge of neo-realistic films in Tamil cinema, of late, if not for a few glitches. Actually so few they are it wouldn’t be surprising if you missed them along the way. Nadodigal has an uncomplicated story line, told in a very neat fashion that strikes the chord at the right place. It is straightforward, raw and touching, without going overboard on the sentiments part. There is love, betrayal and all sorts of other emotions with the main relationship in focus being friendship.
Sasikumar, Vijay, Kanja Karuppu and Bharani are friends who epitomize the kind of friendship you get to see in street corners – who don’t think even once to sacrifice their well-being for the sake of friendship. They help a friend in love to get married when the girl’s parents oppose the affair - by abducting the girl from her home and marrying her off to the friend secretly at the cost of their body parts and even love. The act doesn’t go well with the influential parents of the girl whose henchmen thrash the friends.
After what they have gone through to see them together, the friends are shocked to learn that the couple is after all splitting owing to differences. And most of all, the couple is not even in the least remorseful of their friends’ sacrifices that has literally gone down the drain. This irks the four friends who plot to kidnap them in an effort to teach them that love is not meant to be unserious and that sacrifices of friends are meant to be valued.
If the straightforward story plays the backbone, the actors, with their natural charm and antics do the movie tonnes of good. Sasikumar is at his natural best as the infuriated friend who is equally exasperated at the frivolity with which his friend dealt his hard-earned marriage. His bush-beard look fits the role and his prodding, tiny eyes talk more than he emotes. Bharani and Kanja Karuppu keep their comic juices flowing lightening up a few moments while Vijay does a satisfactory job.
Of the women, Ananya gets the most footage and manages to squeeze in as much acting she could in whatever she is assigned. The real life speech impaired Abhinaya, who plays Sasikumar’s sister, does a stunning job of lip-syncing.
The other aspects, including music by the Kathala Kannala man Sundar C Babu and camerawork are strictly ok. Besides, there are few scenes that are made to fit into the story – like the quintessential pelvic thrust number gyrated by a bombshell – to appease the front benchers. Thankfully they are tolerable and largely excusable since they don’t go overboard with their liberties.
Director Samuthirakani treats the story carefully like it’s not to be overdone or laden with clichés. As a result, we get a no-nonsense presentation with very less emotional package. That’s not to say the movie is emotionally barren, those scenes are treated beautifully and they appear as they happened in your friend’s life; the success of story-telling.
Naadodigal is intense, yet it has its light moments. Those are best enjoyed when seen with a group of friends. And yes, don’t forget to take home the message – love is dignified, it’s not child’s play. Pardon us for the cliche by the way
Verdict: Take your friends along!
Songs of this movie can be downloaded here: Click Here
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Saturday, June 27, 2009
at
1:32 AM
Posted by
Naga
'Terminator Salvation' Cast: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Moon Bloodgood, Helena Bonham Carter, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anton Yelchin; Director: MCG; Rating
'Terminator' The fourth installment of 'Terminator' series has hit the screens but without Arnold Schwarzenegger - though he makes a blink-or-miss appearance towards the end of the movie.
Set in the future, the film is about man fighting with machines to save the world from the grip of an enemy called Skynet, which is trying to wipe out every trace of humankind from earth.
What happens when man wages a war against machines? There is the clink of metal against metal, gun shots and explosions. Director MCG has packed enough thrilling stunts to keep audiences on the edge of their seats. There are a few scenes that actually make you jump up as the filmmaker doesn't give you enough time to think or absorb the turn of events.
The film is devoid of colour, but the director has created space for emotions with the help of Bryce Dallas Howard, who plays the hero John Connor's (Christian Bale) pregnant wife, and Moon Bloodgood, who falls in love with a machine. However, he has ensured that the emotional scenes are not too many.
While Schwarzenegger played the saviour in the first three series, Christain Bale takes the responsibility to save humankind as the leader of human resistance in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles in the fourth installment.
The film opens with circa 2003 -- where we see Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) donating his body to Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter). The film then takes a leap and lands in 2018 where Los Angeles has turned into a junkyard, with no sign of human civilisation but only debris, dead bodies and a chilling stillness
Connor is all the while trying hard to resist his superiors from bombing Skynet station because he wants to save all those who are imprisoned inside.
Meanwhile, Marcus emerges from nowhere and reaches Los Angeles and it takes him a while to understand the situation.
Marcus is the only one who can help Connor in his mission to destroy Skynet base but the latter is not ready to trust him because Marcus is half human and half machine.
When James Cameron's original was released in 1984, it became one of the greatest action films of the decade. 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day', which came in 1991, managed to keep the interest alive. 'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines' came in 2003 and the fourth installment takes the story forward.
With a spate of action thrillers coming to theaters, 'Terminator Salvation' might not have anything extraordinary to showcase, but its a good watch for action-lovers.
Christian Bale does a decent job, while Sam Worthington remains expressionless in most of the scenes ... just like a machine. Bloodgood, Carter and Howard pass muster.
Watch the film if you are a die hard fan.
Friday, June 26, 2009
at
12:02 AM
Posted by
Naga
The international pop superstar Michael has died following a heart attack in Los Angeles. Cardiac arrest is an abnormal heart rhythm that stops the heart from pumping blood to the body. It can occur after a heart attack or be caused by other heart problems. The singer had a history of health problems and was busy with preparations for a series of 50 concerts in London.
The concerts were meant as a farewell to a glittering pop career in which Jackson topped the charts around the world.Medics were called to the singer's Beverly Hills home on Thursday after he stopped breathing.His brother Jermaine Jackson gave a statement saying he was believed to have suffered a cardiac arrest, an autoposy will follow. The concerts in London were dues to start on July 13. Jermaine said doctors tried to resuscitate the star for more than an hour without success. He added: "The family request that the media please respect our privacy during this tough time.There were stories at the beginning of the month in different media that Jackson was unwell, he was reported to weigh less than 57 kilos and he had recently been diagnosed with skin cancer.As a child Michael Jackson was a member of the Jackson 5 - together with his brothers he had hits such as, I Want You Back, ABC and I'll be There. In the eighties and nineties Jackson was the biggest pop star in the world with hits such as Thriller and Beat It. The album Thriller is still the best selling album ever.There were reports at the beginning of the month in different media that Jackson was unwell, he was reported to weigh less than 57 kilos and he had recently been diagnosed with skin cancer.As a child Michael Jackson was a member of the Jackson 5 - together with his brothers he had hits such as, I Want You Back, ABC and I'll be There. In the eighties and nineties Jackson was the biggest pop star in the world with hits such as Thriller and Beat It. The album Thriller is still the best selling album ever.But it proved difficult for Jackson to repeat this success in the years that followed. And accusations of child abuse overshadowed the later years of his career and in 2005 following a controversial trial he was cleared of these allegations. But his career was then in a nosedive and Jackson's debts started to mount - his behavior became increasingly eccentric.Musicians from around the world have expressing their shock at the news of Jackson's death. Madonna said: "music has lost one the greats."And Quincy Jones, the man who helped Jackson produce the album Thriller, said: "I have lost a little brother today and a part of my soul has gone with him.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
at
11:03 PM
Posted by
Naga
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or it's sometimes referred to as Rich Site Summary. It's an XML-based content format for distributing news, headlines, content, etc. Most popular sites provide RSS feeds these days... especially news-related sites.
To Create RSS Feed All you need is a feed reader and you can download the feeds from any site that offers the feeds.
Feed readers come in all shapes and sizes these days. Firefox has one built in to the browser, Google, Yahoo and Live all have a way for you to collect your favorite feeds - so the choice is up to you.
You can also create feeds for your own website so your audience can subscribe to them. If done right, you can drive more traffic to your site on a regular basis.
Advantages of Creating RSS Feeds
More Traffic
For webmasters this is an excellent way to bring repeat traffic to your site. Think about it....every time a web surfer opens their RSS reader to get the headlines for all the sites they monitor, they'll also see your site's updates.
Instead of relying on them to bookmark your site and return at a later date, their RSS reader keeps your site fresh in their minds.
So when they open their reader to check the headlines for CNN, Yahoo or any other feeds they subscribe to, they'll also get the latest updates from you!
Avoid Email Spam Filters
Many webmasters are now dumping their newsletters and switching to this method of content distribution because you don't have to worry about dodging the spam filters.
I don't think that RSS will completely replace email newsletters, but I can see them definitely being used as an alternative more and more.
When you send an email newsletter more than 40-50% of the people won't even receive it due to spam filters or because of the fact it gets lost in all the junk mail your subscribers receive.
With RSS feeds, you don't have to worry about that because you're not sending an email, your simply sending out a news feed for all the readers to pick up.
Export Your RSS Feed
The cool thing about these feeds is that other people can use them as content on their site. So if you have a feed that is of particular interest to another webmaster, they can post your content on their site with a simple javascript code. This is another great traffic opportunity!
How to Create an RSS Feed
First you need to build your feeds. I would suggest using some type of software unless you like writing XML by hand. (Yuck!)
I use www.feedforall.com. They have an easy-to-use feed builder that lets you create and manage all your feeds in one place.
Then once you've created your feed you have to upload the XML file to your web server. FeedForAll.com will automatically convert your feed into the XML format so you don't need to worry about additional formatting or coding.
The URL will be something like http://www.yoursite.com/yourfeed.xml. This is the link to your RSS/XML feed, and the one you'll be advertising so people can subscribe.
So any time you add a new article to your feed, that XML file is updated.FeedForAll also has a built-in upload feature so you can upload the XML file right to your web server with their software, assuming your web host has FTP access.
Use a Blog Instead
If you don't want to buy extra software to create your RSS feed, there is another way to create one for free.
You can create a free blog at Blogger.com and the RSS feed URL is automatically generated for you. This is the easiest way to go. So every time you post to your blog, the feed is updated instantly.
WordPress is another site that offers a free blog equipped with and RSS feeds. Read about creating your own blog here.
Announcing Your Feeds on Your Website
One of the easiest ways to announce your feed on your site is to use FeedBurner.com. They provide a redirect URL (address) for your feed that your audience subscribes to.
The benefit is that if you move your blog and your RSS feed URL changes, you don't have to worry about losing your subscribers because the redirect URL they provide stays the same.
FeedBurner provides several methods of announcing your RSS feeds. You can display a traditional RSS button, rotate your feeds in banner-style on your web pages, etc
