A few days ago, we decided to watch the movie ‘Sleeper’ , a classic comedy flick, written and directed by the famous director/comedian Woody Allen. I’m not much of a woody allen fan.. but sure if you want to have a good laugh then he’s the guy.

After playing the great comedian for the early 1950’s, woody took to film making in 1966 by re-dubbing a Japanese action film with a surrealistic touch of comedy. It was not his best but was the harbinger of good stuff to come!

To this day, when I watch any of his movies now , I would end up saying ‘that’s silly! ‘ What really makes me stick to watch his movies is his witty scripts though. The writer in him never fails to amuse! The futuristic appeal that Woody added to ‘Sleeper’ holds good feasability even to this day and speaks of his writing genuis (despite some possible consultation he would have done) !

Ever since the days of Aladdin, I have been a big fan of fantasy movies. They fascinated me as a kid, weaving magical worlds with words and pictures that were beyond my wildest imaginations fathomable.

Narnia is one such world and I fell in love with everything in it. The roaring lion (Aslan), with its splendid hair and elegant army, the fatherless yet playful pevensies (the four kids), the helpful beavers and the meany, wicked wolves that protect the spell of the witch (who calls herself the queen of Narnia) add to the magic but donot take away from the genius of the author that conjured it all up!

After watching the movie, I felt the book must have been even more interesting and it did not disappoint. Though I did not get a chance to finish it, it sounded much more magical than the movie itself.

The humor in the dialogue really supplemented the gravity of the story very well. Some favorite quotes in the movie I remember :

Professor : What were you children doing in the wardrobe?
Kids: You wouldn’t believe us if we told you.
Professor : Try me.

Kid [about to fall from a rearing horse] : Whoa, Horsey.
the Horse: I have a name. It’s Phillip.

Elder Sister: Are you saying we should believe her story?
Professor : Why not?
Elder Sister: Well, it can’t be real, logically.
Professor : Logic? What are they teaching them at school these days?

It was fascinating to see a full house just before the day of christmas while king kong was still playing in the house! The fact that the audience laughed/cheered/clapped as the story unveiled on the silver screen is probably the best review this movie can get. The last time I saw this happen was with ‘Lord of the Rings’. So, is the deep magic of Narnia going to work on the academy this time ? Gotta wait n see!

Directed by- Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath

Ben Stiller …. Alex (voice)
Chris Rock …. Marty (voice)
David Schwimmer …. Melman (voice)
Jada Pinkett Smith …. Gloria (voice)

The Dvd was out last week…
Fabulous Film! Is all I can say. I watched a lot of animation movies and there are times when I really got bored while watching the movie. I thought this movie too would be the same but to my surprise it was very funny right from the begining till the end with witty scripts.

At the begining of the movie where Marty is running in an open field jumping around, birds chripping and suddenly Alex comes in front of him and says ‘Surprise!’ Marty falls back and says :’ Alex don’t you ever disturb me when I’m day dreaming!’ That line just cracked me up.

imdb says …
Housed in the Central Park Zoo, star performing lion Alex , neurotic giraffe Melman and sensible hippo Gloria, are all content with the adoration they get from the crowds and their pampered lifestyle. However, depressed zebra Marty desires to be free in the wild, much to the disbelief of his friends. Sneaking out one night into the big city, Marty gets a taste of freedom, but it’s cut short when his friends come to “rescue” him, and they all are caught. Then they are all packed in boxes and kicked out of the zoo, the group is sent on a journey overseas, which quickly goes awry, sending them to a new foreign land where they attempt to survive outside of Central Park.

Every conversation in this movie is just hillariuos!! and I have to admit it that I liked the song ” I like to Move it .” Believe it or not I’ve been singing this song the whole day and now my husband too sings this song!!

Chris rock lights up the movie with his non-sensical crack-a-jackers like ..”wow! grand central station! its grand and its central!” but the penguins get to steal the limelight in the movie with lines like “just smile-n-wave boys!! smile-n-wave!!” and “cute-n-cuddly boys! cute-n-cuddly!!” ..I liked the part of the movie where the protagonists end up in madagascar (instead of Congo basin, to where they are originally being “ship”ped) …and meet the inmates of the island!

A highlight of the movie is the penguins finally reaching Antarctica to see what it really feels like first hand! After a few seconds of on-screen silence and non-stop gazes at a snow storm, one of them goes “this sucks”! what really adds to the moment is that these penguins have been planning an escape to Antarctica (from the new york zoo) all along !!

Its hillarious …and its about travel & immigration!! now thats a topic which gets more than a few laughs!!

There is a sequel coming up in 2008! gotta see whats next in this story!

Kitne admi the – Sholay (1975)

In her well researched and immensely readable book on Sholay, Anupama Chopra says that the popularity of a movie can be assessed by the ad spoofs it inspires. From the time of its release in 1975, kitney aadmi the has churned out innumerable ads. So is Gabbar’s kitne admi the Hindi movie’s most memorable dialogue ever? Sholay was the first movie to bring out an audio of the film’s dialogues and the experiment was a raging success. The dialogues sold more than R D Burman’s compositions! From jo dar gaya samjho mar gaya to < karta drama ghari>and tumhara naam kya hai Basanti anyone who has seen the movie, has his own favourite dialogue.

Yeh bacchhon ke khelne ki cheez nahi, haath kat jaaye toh khoon nikal aata hai’ – Waqt (1965)

Directed by Yash Chopra and produced by B R Chopra, this multi-starer blockbuster established some of Hindi movies most recurrent and popular themes: brothers separated at birth, who keep meeting each other without realizing their kinship; one brother grows up virtuous, the other is on the wrong side of the law; rich girl falling in love with an idealistic poor man. Waqt also set the trend for all future Yash Chopra movies, with opulent houses, lush manicured lawns, ladies dressed prettily in chiffon and designer churidars, flashy big cars and song sequences in the verdant valleys of Kashmir (which later shifted to Switzerland).

Babumoshai…! – Anand (1970)

Rajesh Khanna was already a superstar when he co-starred with the gangly Amitabh who looked quite uncharismatic next to the effervescent charmer. Rajesh Khanna’s babumoshai was replete with affection, warmth and had a teasing note to it. It wasn’t an artificially contrived Bengali mannerism like Bhansali’s bondhu or shotti from Devdas. The same playfully affectionate address takes on profoundly tragic overtones when Rajesh Khanna’s recorded message tries to comfort his friend Amitabh, as Amitabh weeps over the death of his patient (Rajesh Khanna), who had also become his closest friend

Aap ke paon dekhe, bahut haseen hai. Inhe zameen par mat utariyega — maile ho jayenge – Pakeezah (1972)

Raj Kumar’s gravelly rendition of this immortal sentence has become synonymous with classic romance and chivalry. It was delivered as a ‘voice over’ through a letter that Meena Kumari discovers left on her train berth. The irony is of course that the courtesan Sahibjaan (Meena Kumari) earns her living through mujras, where she has to get her feet dirty, enticing men with her dance. The train’s piercing whistle recurs as a leitmotif throughout the movie, reminding her of her secret admirer and holds out the promise of a better life, away from men who purchase her beauty at the kotha.

Mujhse dosti karoge? Bobby (1973)

Dimple puts out her hand and asks Rishi mujhse dosti karoge? Seems like a simple request but it created cinematic history of sorts. Never before had a girl been so forward as to make the first move. That too with a handshake. It was unheard of, since Hindi film heroines normally simpered and shied away from any bodily contact until the man had wooed her. In a short skirt and with a wide-eyed quizzical _expression, Bobby (Dimple), is unabashed youthfulness and sexiness personified. The line also became the most hackneyed ice-breaker in college campuses all over the country.

Mere pas ma hai – Deewar (1975)

Nirupama Roy, the quintessential long suffering, patient and gentle ‘ma’ in innumerable Hindi movies, became immortalized as the ‘ma’ whom Amitabh could not win over with his gari, bari and bungalow. That single stark sentence was brilliantly juxtaposed against Amitabh’s rantings about his material possessions. Mere pas ma hai summed up the entire gamut of moral issues that were at stake in the movie. Ponderous generalizations such as ‘crime does not pay’, ‘money cannot buy love’ and ‘the end does not justify the means’ were put across succinctly and simply through this single sentence. Another classic quote from the Salim – Javed duo.

Mogambo khush hua – Mr. India (1987)

Amrish Puri could never live down his Mogambo image (his evil priest role in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was simply another exaggerated and more grotesque Mogambo). Mogambo khush hua was eccentric evil incarnate, in colourful Bollywood hyperbole. He wore outlandish clothes, made his eyes as big as saucers, threatened hapless victims into submission and then chortled out loud Mogambo khush hua.

Children loved him because he seemed a caricature straight out of a comic strip.

Dosti mein no sorry, no thank you – Maine Pyar Kiya (1988)

Saccharine…but teenagers loved this new definition of friendship. Friendship badges and stickers became a rage in schools, which was in itself, a completely new phenomenon in India (to be revived as friendship bands after Kuch Kuch Hota Hai hit the screen in 2003). “Love means never having to say you are sorry”, from Love Story was the inspiration for this dialogue. The theme of friendship between a girl and a boy is juxtaposed against the cynical view ek ladka aur ek ladki kabhi dost nahin ban sakte, questioning the innocence and purity of their relationship.

Mein chota sa, pyara sa, nanha sa, baccha hoon – Chaalbaaz (1989)

One of Shakti Kapoor’s first comic roles in striped knee length drawers with the drawer string hanging out, which went on to become a staple character in David Dhawan movies. By this time Shakti Kapoor had exhausted his range of villainous expressions. He tried his hand at comedy and proved to be a huge success. Ever since then, he has been repeating this dialogue in umpteen shows and TV interviews. And why did he say he was a baccha? Because he thought Sridevi wanted to seduce him, when in reality, she wanted to beat the living daylights out of him!

Bade bade deshon mein, aisi choti choti baatein hoti rahti hain - Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995)

Youngsters picked this line up and used it whenever they had to justify a meaningless, random act. It was thought to be ‘cool’ and witty. Shah Rukh Khan of course epitomized the cool dude. That he was a second generation Indian, settled abroad increased his appeal to all aspiring yuppies back in India! The comment was quintessential Raj – the carefree, rich, mischievous, but heart-in-the-right-place, lover boy who wooed Kajol and millions of girls in India and abroad with his mandolin in tujhe dekha to yeh jana sanam.

This is one of the best movies I have seen in years. I took me to a new time and place. It was as though I was right there with Ray through his many trials and triumphs.

If someone had nudged me about 15 minutes into ‘Ray’ and asked what I thought of Jamie Foxx in the title role, it would have been time for a blank stare. After all, what is this (fictitious) person talking’ about? That wasn’t Jamie Foxx up on the big screen. That was Ray Charles. This is one of the best performances by anybody in recent years. Like the soundtrack, Jamie as Ray is flat-out brilliant.

The blind Genius of Soul (who took a revolutionary step of mixing gospel with R&B) died during production.

Kerry Washington and Regina King play the main women in Ray’s life, one his wife and the other his longtime mistress. Both actresses match Foxx stride for stride. What takes him to a different level, though, is his deep understanding and uncanny impersonation of the great musician. The entire cast is effective, especially Sharon Warren as his headstrong mother and Curtis Armstrong as a music exec.

I was not a Ray Charles aficionado before ‘Ray’. Apparently, the film has left out a lot, but this picture functions as both an old-fashioned crowd pleaser AND a dark investigation of a brilliant/troubled man.