Movie Review: Transformers-Age of Extinction

It's been a while here... intense work coupled with good weather is keeping me away from blogging.
So I thought I will post a quick review on the something... something that was supposed to be a movie I saw a few days back... Transformers: Age of Extinction.

If you don't care to read my elaborate and detailed review of the movie, I'll offer you something that perfectly summarizes the whole movie in a single line and you can then decide what you want to do next...

 Watching Age of Extinction is like watching two drunk junkyards having wild-wild sex in the fit of love in your backyard.

Plot wise, if you can say one exists (which doesn't!), it is strikingly identical to all the other 3 movies in the series that preceded it:

• Everyone searching for that one that thing, spark, seed, fruit, flower... that will tip the scale in Autobot wars, Check
• An underdog (Mark Wahlberg), Check
• Barely-Legal hot chick (Nicola Peltz) who, no matter what, always has a perfect makeup with pink luscious lipstick on, ALL the bejesus time, Check
• Secret Government Organization, Check
• A villain hiding in plain sight (Megatron aka Galvatron), Check
• A hero hiding in plain sight (Optimus Prime), Check
• Plain sight hiding in plain sight... WAIT! What?? That doesn't make sense! Check!
• Lots of shaky shots, fire, destruction, mayhem, explosions... Check, check and Check!
• Incoherent story line, Check
• Predictable, Check
• And it is unbearably long, Check

(For the record, the first original Transformers was enjoyable, with just the right amount of special effects and not unbearably long).

First off, it looks like the movie was made by someone (and FOR someone) who loves to masturbate to violent explosions and destruction of things.  And every iteration of the "act" then demands for a bigger and larger explosion to get the fix.

There are so many explosions in the movie that it makes all of the 4th of July fireworks combined (to date!) look like a mere spark from striking a matchstick.  If Michael Bay were ever looking for an alternate profession, I think he can really give even the most contemporary Pyrotechnians a run for their monies.

Age of Extinction basically is the exact same movie as the first one, just with more cheap and racist shots at humor, more noise (or the explosion), more robots (or car thingies, because you can't tell what's what anymore).  Once the autobots start fighting (or start making violent love, because no one can really discern what's happening!) you can't figure which are the good guys and which are the bad ones, which makes it orders of magnitude more annoying, because you want to root for the good guys, right?

To top it all off, the movie is incredibly long, 160 minutes, which is well over 2 and freakin' half hours!  2 freaking half hours of mind-numbing noise, mind-bending explosions, mind-@#$ing action and all this to no end, or the same "we must save humans(~~~imagine Prime's voice~~~)" sh!t.  That's torture, not entertainment.  If you want to exact a revenge on someone without him/her realizing it... take them to this movie, IN 3-freaking-D!

And most certainly NO, I haven't missed the juiciest part, Michael Bay's penchant for staring barely-legal female characters is only a notch higher in this version compared to previous movies.  While looking at the hot 20-something year old Nicola Peltz may make you overlook a few flaws in the movie, more than average flaws might I even add   ~~~wink wink~~~, even 100s of her in this movie cannot make you overlook the lameness of everything this film has thrown on the screen.

I believe I have now been permanently marred by this experience and I've decided to ban all future Michael Bay films from my life for good.  I wouldn't have watched this one either, had it not been for my buddy insisting on watching it.  At least he agreed to my one condition when I retaliated; I'm not going to watch it in 3D, even if you pay me a thousand dollars! (A lesson I learned the hard way from the experience of watching the last Transformer movie in 3D, Rise or Fall or Revenge of something).

But, in all fairness, the ideal audience for this movie is not the demographic of USA, but it is other parts of the world, parts where the movie industry just doesn't have the technical know-how of creating such mayhem of special effects.  Let alone being able to afford monetary expenses of creating one.

So, I said it in the beginning and I'll say it again...

 Watching Age of Extinction is like watching two drunk junkyards having wild-wild sex in the fit of love in your backyard.

Other notable disappointments have been Man of Steel and the latest Spiderman (the name of which I refuse to Google), 300-Rise of an Empire (my review here).  And I'm sure I'm missing a movie or two.
~~~sigh~~~  Good movies are so hard to come by these days.  Until last week, I was pinning my hopes on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  As a kid I adored that cartoon series, but I heard even TMNT-2014 is rated as drearily dull, even at its best.  But I might still watch it, just for the sake of it.

Links:

0. If Michael Bay directed movie UP
1. Transformers, 2007
2. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, 2009
3. Transformers: Dark of the Moon, 2011
4. Transformers: Age of Extinction, 2014

Movie Review: 300-Rise of an Empire

300-Rise of an Empire, or in simple terms, 300 Part-2...

One of those other weekends, I had nothing better to do (in retrospect, I was so wrong!) so I went to catch up on a movie with a buddy, it had been a really long time since I last watched a movie in theater.  To say that the movie was boring, would be a gross understatement, cinematography was good, but only at times and only to a certain extent.

And here's my take, the movie, surprisingly can be very accurately summarized in mere 3 short words/phrases:

0. Water! Lots of it! In fact it wouldn't hurt to blame California's water shortage entirely on this movie!
1. Blood! Even more plentiful than water!  Take that Mel Gibson for Apocalypto or even Quentin Tarantino for Kill Bill(s)
2. One lousy half-a$$ s3x scene (s3x scenes are quintessential part of _every_ American movie)
3. Slow Motion (ok, I lied, there are 4 items, not 3).

The movie is nothing more than a hodge-podge of dismemberment of body parts (hands, legs, head, anything) that fly everywhere with blood splattering all around in extreme slow motion under a gloomy-n-internally overcast semi-black-and-white environment.  When nobody's hacking bodies, the dialogues in the movie are banal, at best.
Compared to the original 300 (my review here), this movie is almost entirely shot in slow motion. I was afraid even the dialogues would now start appearing in ssslllooowwww mmmoootttiiiooonnn and to tell you the truth, I wouldn't have been surprised if that had actually happened! So much so, that if we played the movie at normal rate then the entire movie would be over in 15 minutes flat!  The time part is a bit of an over statement, but you get the idea.

Good Thing: The only silver lining, watching it in 3D didn't induce a head-ache (and that's only because of the movie being in slo-mo), unlike Superman-Man of Steel, which gave me a splitting headache after I watched it in 3D, TW-freaking-ICE!

Verdict:
Life could only be better if you skip this one.

See Also:

• Movie Review: 300

Transformers-Disappoints me again

While I'm really short of time (is this becoming a norm??? :'( ~~sniff sniff~~ ) and there are definitely more interesting posts to be made, I thought it might be worth it if this saves some of my readers their precious time (and their hard-earned monies).

As I already set the tone, it might be evident that the latest sequel of Transformers, the 3rd part, Transformers: Dark Of The Moon has me disappointed. Transformers-2: Revenge of the Fallen, I guess, is not even worth mentioning.

I can't pinpoint one single thing that disappointed me...
Was it the strikingly typical Bollywood-style masala where Rosie (who replaces Megan Fox, what? you already lost interest!) acts as typical spice or was it the action being too-fast-and-a-little-too-much to comprehend to the point of being completely chaotic or the length (2hrs and 40mins) or the utter absurdity of various scenes in the movie.  Or was it the 3D format! Take your pick.

While objectifying Megan Fox in the first Transformers was more or less quite subtle, or at least not very clear from the beginning, it is quite evident from the very beginning that the primary role for Rosie is to distract the audience and give them a respite from almost incomprehensible (non-stop) action scenes.  And for that reason, maybe, just, maybe, I kind of lost interest every time she popped up on the screen.  People wanting to see the movie just for Megan might end up with mixed feelings.

As to me, I personally went to expose myself to some thought provoking concepts and cool FX but I was completely dissatisfied. Maybe I should have gone for something else.  There was just too much going on in the screen to comprehend at one time.  It was, in my view, special effects overused. There is, after all, abusing special effects to no creative end.

Moral: Skip it if you can, or if you MUST absolutely watch it (which I doubt!), save yourself some money (and more importantly, TIME) by watching it on a rented DVD while you cook or clean your house. Trust me, you won't repent.

Unsolicited tip: Well, this deserves a post in itself, but nonetheless... Kungfu Panda-II is every bit exciting as part-I was. My only complain; the movie is way too short, just 1hr and 30min.  On second thoughts, that is not too short!  I guess it was Einstein's theory of relativity at play, can't be totally sure. But the movie does end just as you think you want more. Anyways, don't miss that one.  If you like light-hearted animated movies, you will enjoy this sequel, whether you are a Panda fan or not.

Another totally unrelated random stuff...
An amazing melody voiced by, none other than the maestro Rafi Sahab and Asha Bhosle (btw, did I ever tell you I love Asha's voice an order of magnitude times more over Lata's!), penned by Rajendra Krishna and aggrandized by Ravindra Jain's music has stuck in my head: Yeh Khamoshiyan Yeh Tanhaiyan, from Ye Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke.

A few days of endless listening and still can't seem to it get out of my head. Of course, loving it more with every single iteration :) Beautiful words and even more beautiful tune and voices! Of course, feel free to totally disregard the visuals and focus only on the audio.

Insanely Long Post

At the onset of the year 2009, I knew that the 5-6 months that lie immediately in front of me are going to be extremely grueling. Guess, I was wrong! I wasn't prepared for what lie ahead of me, it seems, in retrospect.

For the lack of better word, life (on personal front) had been more than an excruciating roller-coaster ride for past 6 months. It is worth going through all the pains, only if you know there is a sweet end to it, and you can clearly see the light at the end of the tunnel (which you are sure is not from an oncoming train that will run you over). I saw that light on and off, like someone was holding a blinking light and playing tricks with me. That explains sporadic/no emails, no replies, no phone calls, reduced online activity, no login on GTalk/YM IMs and increased isolation! But nothing to worry, for, if I were to assume that my unassuming assumption of 'things are under control' is a right assumption, all seems to be well :-)

Apart from work and coping up with tons of other things, I have been largely spending inordinate amounts of time (mostly with self) philosophy'ing, professing, contemplating, understanding, questioning, discovering and rediscovering the meaning, purpose and essence of life. And going beyond: the purpose of all of the beings, their actions, reactions, sins, good/bad-deeds, death, birth, karma, consciousness, subconsciousness, etc. And I have to admit that I am no closer to any answers than I was at the beginning of this journey (not to mention the additional array of questions that took birth!). Yet, I believe it is worth treading along.

So here is an insanely long post of things (in no particular perceivable order) on my mind today, that I thought I could share... This is not the final version and will probably evolve over a period of fews days after initial posting. For your convenience, here are some shortcuts that will jump to specific sections, this much for being considerate reader of this boring post :-)

• Documentaries/Movies
• Ice Age-3
• Dispatches Mumbai 26/11
• Dispatches Pakistan's Taliban Generation
• Transformer-2
• Terminator-4
• UP
• G.I. Joe
• Battle of X-Planes
• Outings
• Weekend with Arun-Su
• Green Lake Park
• Snoqualmie Falls
• Rattlesnake Ledge Trails
• Photos
• Long Weekend with Arun-Su, SeaWorld
• Woodland Park Zoo
• Green Lake Park
• Snoqualmie Falls
• Gasworks Park
• Panorama Seattle Downtown
• Fishtank
• Heatwave
• Random Thought
• Serenity
• Latest Fads
• Recently Read Books
• Upcoming Activities & Fads
• Diving deeper into photography
• Sports
• Movies I Want to see
• Books I want to read
• Geekdom
• Outings
• Posts to expect

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Movies/Documentaries

Nothing beats the joy of a relaxing (and thought provoking) movie. I utterly detest the act of watching a movie that will shove garbage up a$$ and eventually into head. As long as movie is provoking positive thoughts and attitude, I can watch it.

0. Ice Age-3,aka Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
I had never seen a movie in 3D in my life before. And this was the FIRST ever 3D movie I have seen. It was an exhilarating experience. This is one of the best movies I have seen lately. After a few minutes, the fact that movie is 3D is forgotten only because the story is so gripping, funny & engaging. My favorite character is Buck; an eccentric, brave and mysteriously knowledgeable little creature in the strange land of dinos. Of all the Ice Age movies, this is THE BEST so far. No nonsense, no emotional garbage, funny quips and lots of action and affection. A perfect package to rejuvenate a otherwise languid day. It would be fair to claim that it is one of the only few movies that is suitable to and enjoyable by every age group: kids, teens and adults alike.
1. Dispatches Mumbai 26/11
Link to video Disclaimer: The programm contains graphic images and descriptions of the atrocity which may upset some viewers. I myself couldn't watch it in one go! November last year, the world stood still and watched in shock as terrorists went on a rampage in the bustling city of Mumbai in India. Came across this excellent [and] disturbing documentary by Channel 4/BBC, an untold story of 2008's terrorist attack, in the eerie words of its victims and the gunmen. Produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker Dan Reed, Terror in Mumbai tells the story of what happened when 10 gunmen held one of the world's busiest cities at hostage; killing and wounding hundreds of people at will while holding India's top notch security at bay. The sad thing, today, is that even after all these months, it is business as usual as far as apprehending the culprits is concerned. Pakistan just released the prime suspect, and is blaming India for his release (which is kinda funny, because Pak is apparently imposing a ban on such nonsensical outfits anyways!). I cannot comprehend what is more sad, the fact that so many innocent lives were lost, our security sucks or the fact that business is back to normal as if nothing happened. Sometimes I wonder if affected people wonder whether it is worth continuing living such a life (where the a$holes eventually shall inherit the world) over total annihilation of human race with nuclear warfare and let the whole world reboot, eviscerated of all the vices. Additional Links: 0. 8 Ways India can hurt Pak 1. Mumbai massacre revisited
2. Dispatches Pakistan's Taliban Generation
Video 0, Video 1 Pakistan's Taliban Generation investigates how the war on terror is creating a generation of child terrorists - children prepared to kill both inside and outside Pakistan. Journalist Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy reveals how the Taliban are recruiting increasingly young fighters for their campaign. She interviews a 14-year-old boy in Karachi who's desperate to become a suicide bomber. At a nearby refugee camp, Sharmeen interviews two teenage boys whose local madrassa was hit by bombardments (alleged by US drones and Pakistani armies) while children were studying (read: studying? really?) inside. In the aftermath of the attack, a local militant arrives to preach to a large crowd of local youngsters. He successfully bags (read: brainwashes) a handful of fresh recruits! For various reasons, these videos are being forced out of shared sites. So if any of the links are dead, just Google these names out and you will get at least one current active source. It would be nice if you are kind enough to share it with me, so that I can keep it current.
3. Transformers 2, aka Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
I would rate it at just 5.0/10. While good, more than 2 hours of non-stop abuse of special effects is not fun to watch. This happened to be my first movie in IMAX (but non-dome) theater. Frankly, I couldn't appreciate the hyped IMAX factor. I don't know who is to be blamed: the fact that IMAX theater is indeed a hype, or the movie was sh!tty. The movie got on nerves, esp. because the movie is insanely long. Definitely worth letting it pass by unwatched (unless you want to ogle at Megan Fox, I didn't).
4. Terminator 4, aka Terminator Salvation
I don't know why am I even mentioning this. Probably just to let you know that if you haven't seen this, don't waste your precious time (and money). By any stretch, movie is just average, and falls far below expectations on every front: direction, action and story. Story, is a little too incomprehensible, if (like me) you are not an insane die-hard Terminator fan. Skip it, I would say.
5. UP
While very engaging and entertaining, it tends to get too depressing (in the memory of old man's sweet wife) very too often. This fact drains out all the fun from a otherwise very well made and directed animation movie.
6. G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra
A movie so devoid of any substance, that even the starring of bombshells like VS-angel Karolina Kurkova and Sienna Miller doesn't cut it through. Except for the concept of nano-mites (and its applications, good and bad), the movie had no thought provoking substance in it for me. Major part of movie towards the end looks nothing like a movie! It looks like a poorly made VGA-era game projected on giant screen in the year 2009. Fx (if you will call that) comes nowhere close to the epic special effects of a decade old Matrix! Not even two decade old Jurassic Park! Hasbro, simply sucks. The fact that they did such a trashy job on Transformer 2, I shouldn't have craved to watch this movie. I could have done sooooooo much more in those 2 hours and with now-wasted 15 dollars ~~~sigh~~~
7. Battle of X-Planes
America has a yearly military budget of 600+ billion dollars, which is higher than the military budget of rest of the world put together! This is a technically very thought-provoking documentary. They have made a very nice film out of the quest of two of the biggest aviation companies (Boeing and Lockheed Martin) to build two prototype jets each to replace the formidable (but seemingly unaffordable) F22 Raptors. Very engaging, it has boat loads of technology, zest, energy, thrill and politics in one single package. This documentary left no doubt in my mind as to why USA's military force is so formidable. Additional Links: 0. Military Expenditure by country

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Outings

0. Long Weekend with Aurn-Suchi
This deserves a post in itself, but I figured if I delay it any more, it won't happen. So, in the essence of something is better than nothing, I clubbed it along here. It had been a long time I met my old time buddy Arun (aka Anna). My plans to spend a week with him and his wife (Suchi, aka Su) before I started my new journey got cancelled, and ever since we have been itching to meet. Finally, that happened on the Independence day long weekend. Wow! It was such a rejuvenating and relaxing 4-day trip, I don't have right words to put it in perspective. We had made great plans, but Su's health didn't cooperate, so we spent lot of time unplanned at home. I bet it was far more fun than anything we had on paper to do if Su's health were better. Eating yummy food, watching movie, talking on and on, seeing photographs, etc... it was real fun. The night I landed in LA, me and Anna talked about everything there is to talk about under the sun: technology, life, computers, cars, economics, movies, philosophy, psychology, spiritualism, religion, love, hatred, books, laptops, operating systems, algorithms, stores, and what not! For a 5-6 hours talk, that was pretty dense variety of topics :) We went for La Jolla Beach, but the @#$ing traffic on I-5 consumed all the time we had (more than 2+ hrs of ride, for a usually about 50min ride) and so hit the beach only at hours past sunset. We had food at a nice Persian restaurant, though. To help recuperate Su's health, we let her stay home while we went to San Diego SeaWorld the next day. It was a great outing, but the time spent unplanned at home were the most fun filled moments! Click here for photos from my LA trip.

Long Weekend of July with Arun and Suchi

Essence: Nothing beats the joy of connecting to a close old timer.
1. Green Lake Park
On some odd sunny Sunday we ventured out to yet another park. We couldn't spend much time there, for some of us had to reach back home early, but I managed to click some photos. My favorite one is this:

From Green Lake Park

click here for whole Green Lake Park album.
2. Snoqualmie Falls
On a lazy Saturday, we longed for hitting a waterfall. Snoqualmie Falls it was this time. Picturesque place, amazing water fall.

Magnificient Falls From Snoqualmie Falls

Click here for more pictures Snoqualmie Falls
3. Rattlesnake Ledge
Another outing, a wonderful trek for beginner to advanced trekkers. And once you are done with the trek, you can come down and have a nice refreshing dip in the cool waters of the Rattlesnake Lake!

From Rattlesnake Ledge Trek

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Photos

0. Long Weekend with Arun-Su, Hollywood, SeaWorld, La Jhola Beach

Long Weekend of July with Arun and Suchi

1. Woodland Park Zoo
This is my most prized photo from this trip:

Emerald Tree Boa From Woodland Park Zoo

And here's the link to whole album:

Woodland Park Zoo

2. Green Lake Park

Green Lake Park

3. Snoqualmie Falls

Snoqualmie Falls

4. Gasworks Park

Gasworks Park

5. Seattle Downtown
This is a beautiful panorama of Seattle Downtown across Lake Union. You must zoom in 100% to enjoy it.

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Fishtank

My original first tank had some major issues a month back, and all the plants suddenly died :( I suspect it was the attack of hair-algae. But I'm not sure. I had setup new tank some time back. Two days back I saw 2-3 baby ghost shrimps emerge out from dense plantation, today, I can't see them. They usually make good snack for fishes, I fear they must have gotten devoured. Quite a few of the baby fries that sunburst platy gave birth to, have grown in size, I moved about 7 of them into larger tank. Waiting for the rest to grow up. I haven't gotten around shooting it, but here is one photo of my second 30gallon planted tank.

From New Fishtank

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Heatwave

End of July, we experienced the hottest sun that has never been experienced in over a century here in Seattle, it soared around 105F (~41C). Intense sun extreme along with humidity made the weather unbearable for about a week. So much so, that even the cooling systems at my office failed to function, and many worked from home for 2-3 days. Fans were only as useful as a AA-sized battery operated hand-held fan is useful in scorching Sahara dessert!

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Random Thought

Don't compare yourself to other people. It won't help. You will only find what you expect to find. If you think you are weak, everyone else will seem stronger. If you think you are strong, everyone else will seem weaker. It is futile to compare like that. Simply look at where you are now, and aim to get better as you go forward, that is the way to go. That is the only way to not be a part of the crazy rat-race. (inspired by Self-Discipline and seems to be inline with my theory of Types of Successes)

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Serenity

Only a few people know about my craving for serene soothing music. I am always on a lookout for one. Recently I stumbled upon this soothing performance. I don't know the language it is spoken in, or if the lyrics have any meaning in some spoken language, but it indeed is very soothing Dona Ceri'Tun by Gary Stadler & Stephanne.

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Latest Fads

0. KenKen (it is like advanced Sudoku, you must try it, it is addictive!)
1. GIMP and Layers
2. Green Tea (link2)
3. LOST
4. last.fm (revived)

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Books

I haven't been reading much lately...
The Unfettered Mind: Writings from a Zen Master to a Master Swordsman
I didn't find the book as engaging, except for few pages. This book was on my to-read list of a very long time now, glad I can now strike it out from the list.
You guessed it right, the name of my blog is kind of derived from the title of this book :)

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Upcoming Activities and Fads

Things I intend to take on going ahead, preferably through the end of this year (not necessarily in that order).

0. Diving deeper into photography
• contemplating buying a CPL filter
• creating panoramic images (you already saw the sample above)
• learn layers in GIMP (see an example below of what could be done with it)

Playing with layers in GIMP From Photography

1. Sports
• Volleyball: just re-started playing volleyball after almost 5yrs, best stress buster I have found (this Thursday I played non-stop for 3 hours, and I felt I was in heaven and wished that the night would never end!)
• Nutrition
2. Movies I Want to see
• Public Enemies
• G-Force (yes, I'm a big animation movie fan! plus I love watching cartoon films!)
• Harry Potter-6 (only for Fx)
• Ninja Assassin (to be released: Nov 25, 2009. I like a good movie based on martial arts, even if it has outlandish stunts, as long as they are well executed)
• Drag Me to Hell (has been a while I have seen horror flick)
• District 9
3. Books I want to read
Haven't done much reading lately, books on my mind:
• Windows Internals
• Brave New World
• Acupressure, mainly interested in points on palm and foot
• The Digital Photography, Scott Kelby, vols. 1-3
4. Geekdom
• Mastering vi, complete the tutorial (typeset in TeX/LaTeX) that I abruptly stopped working on
• My resume using TeX/LaTeX (yes, I'm still hung on it!)
• Move to [K]Ubuntu
• Upgrade my homepage to be managed via new infrastructure (suggestions welcome)
5. Outings
• Mount Si, 4mile trek, each way
• Mt. Rainier, I want to catch the glimpse of how gentle rays of rising sun alchemies the majestic snow-clad peaks of the Mt. Rainier
6. Posts to expect
• Why I joined Microsoft, in spite of other lucrative offers?
• Showdown: Firefox vs Internet Explorer, most detailed head-on comparison(AtulT 23-Dec-09 link here!)
7. And, if, after all these, I still have some time, I would like it to save for myself :)

Watchmen: Do not watch it!

Yes, it has been a long time, and you guys have been waiting to hear from me. Trust me, there is, as always, tons to share. But too many things happening in a very short time. So I'll cut short the blog right to the point: A deplorable act I committed today: seeing the movie Watchmen.

Watchmen... Who Watches the Watchmen...
Another, what I would call, a in-theater-disaster for me. Had gone to watch it, only because it was a team-outing meant as stress buster after they had under gone yet another release cycle (read it was FREE!). Thought it wouldn't harm, but I was wrong. My head hurts now. Only 2 cups of black tea and a little ranting on this post alleviated the pain!

The movie has used good special effects, but after a while you feel it is just too much. FX is simply over used. The amount of bloody maiming and ruthless butchering and the spit-out-guts scene thrown at you would really turn you off after few initial minutes. That whole thing makes you miss the whole point of the movie, which, as you might have easily guess if you watched the trailer, is 'A Band of super heroes saving (or at least wanting to save) the world from N-war'.

There is too much of narrative to make the scheme difficult to follow in one pass. And even after multiple passes it probably would be hard to grasp it without any background of reading the novel from which the movie is adapted. The characters seemed underdeveloped on the screen.

And for other times when the so-called-super-heroes and villains are not ruthlessly mutilating each other, they are making out. But even that doesn't get any thumbs up from me. I would say it is not tastefully done.

A one-liner description of the movie:

Watchmen is an absolute abuse and a disastrous waste of special effects technology (and probably tons of money)!

To me, it was a criminal waste of time to watch it, esp. when the sun was out for all those close to three hours we wasted inside one dark room with incredulously loud noise, which by the way, ruled out all possibility of slumbering in cozy reclining seat! Sitting out in sun with a cup of Mighty Leaf's lightly flavored steaming Spring Jasmine Tea and staring at nothing and doing absolutely nothing would have been a better investment. Especially when you know sun doesn't come out so often here in this season!

Seriously, can't believe it is the same Zack Snyder who so beautifully directed 300 (my review here).

Morals:

0. Please do not waste your precious money, and above all TIME, on this lame celluloid.
1. Should you choose to ignore the above unsolicited advice, don't even think of taking your girlfriend with you on this movie, else, rest assured, this is going to be the last movie you would be watching with her :D Don't tell me you weren't warned!

What have I been upto

It's been a long long time I've posted... posted anything interesting... It's more because I'm bogged down by so many things happening around, rather than, not having anything worth while sharing. There's NEVER a dearth of things I want to share.

So what the hell have I been doing lately, besides getting ground in the usual, boring, mundane and frustrating product releases and useless reports...

Movie Update

Yes, you know that, however busy I'm, I manage to see at least one movie in a fortnight, if not 3 or 4.
Jhoom Bara Bar!
Yes, I know the first reaction from the most of you will be" 'Atul! I don't believe you even agreed to watch this!'
Well then, the fact buddies, is that, I DID! I @!#$ing DID! Rather I HAD TO! (Note: not because of GF! Thank GOD I haven't any, to force me into such inhuman acts!) I'm so ashamed to admit this, that I walk with my heads down in front of movie buffs! Without diving into reasons why I watched it, I wanna tell you PLEASE, FOR GOD's SAKE DON'T EVER watch this shit! I'm telling you, the movie sucks, 3 love stories till the interval, and then 2 more after the interval. Never ending songs... and ever shortening clothes... (oh yes, don't watch with your younger/elder siblings if you aren't too comfy) and the @!#$ed up song (read title song) keeps playing every 15 minutes! I tell you, you have to be completely brain dead (not once, but a hundred times) to like this movie! The Bachans suck BIG time ever on the screen! My verdict: I believe the makers of this movie, including Bachans, should switch to the vacuum cleaner business where people actually want products that suck!!! Once again, NEVER WATCH THIS MOVIE! May GOD forgive me of committing this sin! Amen!

Guns of Navarone

An impregnable fortress... An invincible army... and the unstoppable commando team Another war-time classic, based on the battle of Stalingrad. Very well made movie... once again only makes be think... Only the dead knows what a war was like!

The Gods Must Be Crazy-I:

A Sho in the Kalahari desert encounters technology for the first time - in the shape of a Coke bottle. Thinks it's GOD's gift... And the life is NEVER the same for him again!
A nice thought provoking and light hearted movie, with a nice love story, good cast and amazing direction. What's most exciting about this movie is that how the small tribe survives in the extremities of Kalahari desert.

Pirates of Caribbean: At World's End

You will find a zillion reviews out there... so I'll keep it short...
Amazing special effects, worth watching once in a theatre. But the story is VERY incomprehensible. You better own a DVD if, like me, you can't take the fact that you can't explain every word exchanged on the screen. And don't dare watching it without seeing the first part, if not the previous 2.

Life Update

There's a one? Oh! Sorry! Next time around I'll remember that there's one! No novels! No new programming language (my stint with python died a premature death!) No new treks! No new places! Ah.. there's 1 new place I went to, 3D Funky, near Chandani Chowk. Nice place to kill time if you are in a group. I liked bowling the MOST followed by air hockey. First time I ever played both.

Nostalgia & Deep Sea review

3 days back I met Taklu (aka Tarun), one of my favourite seniors at hostel, college, room and even past company. And his younger bro, Parry. I still vividly remember the day when I was tensed, for the upcoming viva, and was struggling with quicksort. That was in SE, if I'm to rely on my memory. When I failed to grasp the whole essence of the algo, Taklu explained it to me and I've never forgotten Quicksort ever since!

It had been a long time I met him. We are only handful of the people from our hostel to be still in Pune. Most of them have either moved to US or to their respective home towns. As you can imagine, the BIGGEST joy of seeing him was getting nostalgic!!! We were talking on and on and on and on and on about good old hostel days. Our goof-ups...
bitter & sweet trysts with rector and hostel trustees...
the days when we were in-charge of the mess...
drive to the end of the city to get cheapest of mangoes (but best in quality) for the mess...
that 1-hr daily journey to PICT from Deccan in PMT...
those grueling days of the preparation leaves...
waiting endlessly in queue to call home from single STD booth near our hostel...
tea at nearby tapri...
our favourite food joint... cafe joint... snack joint... and what not!!!

It was REAL fun! It was like going through the highlights of the whole of our hostel days in just 3 hrs span!!! And Taklu then went on explaining me how he met some of our roomies while he was in US. And how he is happy with his current assignment at the job! What he's learning there! How he handles his team! Talking to him was just so reassuring. Effusing confidence, as always. But one thing where he disappoints me is... he's still single :-( But I believe the work is underway & wish him good luck in his endeavour.

BTW, Taklu also suggested that all of us ex-Trivedians who are still in Pune (or can manage a day's trip here) get together and hang out doing all that we did in those good old days: take tea at Trupti, snack at Umeed, lunch at Niranjan, take a post-lunch walk around the hostel and then disperse after a cuppa coffee at Radhika!!!

Besides that other major highlight of the week was that I managed to see IMAX-Deep Sea. I'm just short of words to describe the quality of direction that has been done. And the sound quality, even in the deepest and darkest parts of the oceans. Infested with all kinds of deadly and dangerous creatures. Just impeccable. While seeing it, it just teleports you deep below the ocean surface. Through the magic of IMAX, you will swim with some of the planets most unique, dangerous and colorful creatures, and understand this inspiring underworld. Directed by none other than Howard Hall, it's a MUST see for documentary fanatics.

Since there were no tournament matches this weekend, I enjoyed my regular Sunday game to the fullest, as always!

Movie Review: 300

300 is the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army, brought to LIFE: Prepare for Glory!


What impressed me the MOST is that almost everything is polished and finished to perfection. Every finer of the nuances, be it expression, dialogue, war scene, or costume, it has been meticulously attended to. Visual effect is just toooooo good. The confidence shown by the Spartans as protrayed in the movie will definitely have a positive impression on you even while you are walking out of the theatres! And not to forget the examplary leadership but Leonidas and loyalty of his armymen.

Xerxes' Persian army has extraordinary force comprised of physical oddities, brute strength, wild African animals, magic practitioners, and his elite guard, called the Immortals. Featuring some of the best battle scenes ever, mere 300 Spartans fight'em all, proving to be the most formidable fighting force known to man. Forming an impregnable phalanx – where each warrior's shield protects the man next to them – the Spartans live by the code of no retreat, no surrender. And they sure don't take any prisoners when it comes to awarding out the punishment!




And yes, it's WORTH watching in theatre, on your small computer/TV screen, sans surround sound system, you will miss the whole essence of special effects. At least I didn't regret watching it, esp. when I predicted some time back that this is one of the movies to look up to as a great entertainer! And oh, I missed Deja Vu & Blood Diamond already. But thanks to holiday last Monday, I could catch up with 300.

Worth a watch for any FX-fanatic and even war-movie fanatic alike.
My rating: 9/10

Note: For people who say the movie is very gory, please have a glimpse at Apocalypto!!! It's just disgusting :-( I could barely watch through the end! But 300 is differnt. Some scenes do have graphic dimemberments of body parts and blood spurting, but it's a part of any war movie and it won't hit you too hard. But do consider it, if you are a little faint hearted!

Movie Review Operation Takedown: Kevin Mitnick

I had gotten my hands on this movie sometime back, but it wasn't until this weekend that I actually got a chance to see it! And I saw it twice in a row!!!


If you read or have read about cybersecurity, you must have heard of this hacker (turned cracker) Kevin Mitnick. He was known to be the MOST wanted FBI cyber criminal. Now whether he really was a cracker or a hacker (if you understand the difference between the two & give a damn about it, I personally do) is really debatable. Some say he was a hacker whose image was tarnished as a bad guy, cracker, by the New York Times writer John Markoff. I haven't studied this eposide enough, so don't have a personal opinion yet. But there are many books and documentaries towards that end. This movie in particular portrays him as a cracker, which is based on book by same title: Takedown (by Tsutomu Shimomura John Markoff).


Some research revealed book venturing on the Mitnick's side of the world as well. This is a brilliant look at a compelling individual and also the manufacturing of media events and the inept efforts of law enforcement to prepare for the next wave of high-tech crime.
The Fugitive Game: Online with Kevin Mitnick
The Cyberthief and The Samurai
Freedom Downtime: a feature length documentary on Kevin

Takedown is really gripping from start to the end, and all the whole of cast is amazing, my personal favourite is obviously, Kevin Mitnick in the movie.



Mitnick, now, is no more chased by feds, he has his own security consulting firm: Mitnick Security Consulting, LLC.

Now I'll go to a bookstore the first thing this weekend and buy some of these books!

If you have read any of these, please be generous to share your reviews & opinions.

Additional resources for the curious souls:
1. http://www.takedown.com/coverage/own-web.html
2. http://www.takedown.com/bio/index.html#Kevin
3. http://www.mitnicksecurity.com/
4. http://www.eweek.com/slideshow_viewer/0,1205,l=&s=25956&a=188213&po=1,00.asp
5. http://www.takedown.com/
6. http://imdb.com/title/tt0159784/

Don't watch DOA

Take a piece of my advise and don't watch this movie: Dead or Alive, DOA. I know that looking at the movie posters you might very much be tempted to do exactly the opposite, just like me ;-) ! Of course if you are a teenager, you might end being a die hard fan of this movie. Or if you have nothing else to do and just want to kill time watching the bikini-clad babes on action spree, GO FOR IT! For at least one thing, it's worth watching Holly Valance, she's just GOD damned soooo se... err... beautiful!

BTW, if you get hold of the DVD, without spending too much money (not more than 30/-) watch it, you won't regret, at least for Holly!!!

I'm sick!

Thank GOD, only in literal sense. Not in the sense of 'A Sick Moron!' That explains another break in posts. And also those lousy statuses on messenger. Lot of things have happened meanwhile! None of them encouraging enough:-(

Football, as you can guess, will be amongst the first I'll talk about...
2 weeks back, at TMKM inter-IT tournament, it was match against PSPL, the bunch (please excuse me) of morons!!! Well, not all, but a major of them! We drew 0-0 against those bunch of arrogant beasts. They played well, pretty damn well, but only if the game was to be termed as American Football, which it wasn't! Referee awarded us foul kicks every 5 mins on an average! They kicked players and not the football, they hit one of the players so hard, that he puked on the field! Yeeks! Can you imagine playing against such morons :-( Anyway, with lack of full strength, we managed to just draw. Last week we played against was Wipro. I was so out of health, I couldn't even manage to be amongst the audience. We started with 8 players and reached 11 only until very late. They thrashed us 4-0 in the first half itself. And the score remained there for rest of the game.

I caught cold, rather, let me put this way, common cold got hold of me 2 weeks back. Trying to test my immunity (a big mistake as I would realize a day after), I thought I would take it. The very next day I was out of action, bed-ridden for most of the day. After a day's worth of dose, that my family doc prescribed, I felt confident and energetic. Having a big time itch of getting something done, I went to office on Saturday, hoping to cut on the backlog. Was right only about clearing backlog, for, this week, the cold came back & with vengeance!!! And hit really hard on me. Yesterday I couldn't take it any longer and had to leave office immediately to see my doc. Even while I tried to breath harder, forget about sneezing or clearing nasal tract, the result would be electrifying shocks through my head. Anyone having had severe common cold can imagine, withouth doubt, what I'm talking about.

With no sun for 3 weeks straight, constant rains, everything around wet and soaked in water, !@#$ing bad roads, maddening traffic, bad health for more than 2 weeks now, & last but not the least deprived of football has driven me crazy. But once a while, not very often, everyone should fall a little ill, because it helps drive right into your brain the fact: Health is Wealth. Though not completely relevant here, I'm tempted to quote something Sri Sri Ravishankar said, very aptly:

We spend half of our Health to earn the Wealth,
And then, we spend half of that wealth to earn back our Health!

That, sadly enough, is the typical western culture we Asians (esp. Indians) are picking up, all this while the rest of world, including Americans, are dying to catch on some of ours! Wherever the centuries old Oriental wisdom disappeared :-(

In the heat frenzied of activities, I did manage to finish off Bill Bryson's The Short History of Nearly Everything (TSHNE), watch Pirates of Caribbean-2 (POC-2), read through Arthur Hailey's Overload and maybe something more.

To keep it short, TSHNE, is an amazing book. Bill has done enough research and digested everything for us in a very concise form, TSHNE. He touches on almost everything, from birth of universe through birth of Earth, through the birth of humans and everything in between. How universe works, how our body works, Newtonian mechanics to Quantum, Geology, Astronomy, DNA, and only GOD knows what not. And oh, did I forget to mention GTR, General Theory of Relativity & the petty fights, differences, arrogances that existed (and still exists) in the scientific world that only hampers its and our growth, my personal favourites! It's difficult to be interested in ALL of above at once, but the book is really worth your time for the breadth of knowledge it exposes you to. And some very interesting anecdotes.

As to POC-2, it doesn't make the impact of POC-1, and find it only to be a teaser to the final (and hopefully) concluding part, POC-3. But what the movie is worth watching for is, as usual, Johnny Depp & movie's mind-blowing special effects. The movie sets & locations are just out of the world, very well suited to the movie theme. Well, of course, not as enchanting as After the Sunset!

Will talk about Overload later! Meanwhile, grab a copy of TSHNE, and a DVD of POC-2!

Weekend: Mission Impossible 3 and Abdul Kalam's Ignited Minds

While watching MI-3, playing football twice a week and getting over with Ignited Minds, last week was a little satisfying, I'm feeling increasingly occupied these days, for, I have barely been able to catch up with all my emails. Keeping track of latest news, blogs, and /. is turning simply out of question.

Little reluctant but since I was hard pressed for time, I agreed to watch the last show, which is screened at 11.30 in the night. To ensure that we get the tickets, we reached theatre 2 hrs before screening and spent all my free time at CrossWords. Lo and behold! There lay a feast for me!!! In college days I was hunting for Arthur Hailey's books, but only managed to find it now! The next day I went back and bought 2 of them: Hotel & Overload. Yet to start them. The movie is JUST mind boggling! Action scenes, direction, special effects, everything. It's not yet another boisterously noisy movie! All the action scenes are really directed to perfection. If I were to compare, I would say this one is at least 15 times better than it's predecessor, MI-2. The opening scene, helicopter chase, itself will convince you of what I'm saying. I would strongly recommend to ALL the action freaks out there. Of course, you have to over look the fact that all these movies are based on the theme where Americans create something hellishly disastrous only find its way to enemies. And there a hero steps in, leaving behind his family and love only to save the nation. What you should concentrate on is the quality of action scenes!

For most of the weekend, I was stuck with Jeffery Archer's Matter of Honour. And to the frustration of my mom and bro, I refused to let it down throughout Sat & Sun. It took great pestering and constant nagging from them for me to let it down for a few hours and go out with them, only to finish off my own chore!!! How MEAN!

Let the above review not overshadow the joy I had getting through with Kalamji's Ignited Minds: Unleasing the Power Within India. Book's central theme revolves around the fact that India is indeed greatest of the nations, the way we think US or Japan or UK is. He elaborates on why despite this fact we settle for mediocre quality of life. In very simple words, he puts forth what are India's strengths and how can we build on them: The Youth! India by far has the highest ratio of people in working to non-working class!!! Unlike most veterans, he doesn't go to IIT's and IIM's and encourage them to do better, only to see them run away to US. He focuses on school going kids, even in the remotest of villages, because that is the age where he believes you can create an impression and beliefs that are had to change for the rest of your lives!!! It is so surprising to note that he NO WHERE does he mention the need for reservations, a bill that has thrown a stone in hornet's nest.

Kalamji, one man behind developing Indis'a nuclear prowess, making rest of the world know that we exist on the face of this planet, by any standards is THE ONLY Indian president who is really capable of envisioning the change and knowing how to go about it. It's not a surprise that he lead India Vision 2020, a project that will make India find its place in the list of developed nation. And his BEST part is the fact that he believes in himself, believes in his team, believes in you and believes in me! He believes that we all can make a difference, and tells us how!!! A Must Must Must Must Must x 100000.... read for every damn Indian on the face of this planet, this book should finds it way to your bookshelf. So should be his Wings of Fire.


BTW, as a side note, couldn't resist adding this...
Have you ever imagined a non-Muslim being president of a Muslim country! LMAO! Can't even imagine a non-Muslim raising his voice for equality, forget about leading one!!! Never! But you will find a Muslim leading a country whose majority of population is non-Muslim!!! And that country is India, the only example that you can quote for the real meaning of democracy. Then why the hell all Muslims here create a fuss about their minority? Why the !@#$ do they get carried by the words of those SOB politicians how ignite the rage in them only to ensure they remain in power? They should learn to live harmoniously in India, and not get carried away by anti-nationalist bullshit. Kalamji is once again a very great example demonstrating his utter dislike to racism.