CINEMA PARADE

This is an unplanned post.

Blame my laziness or may be something more sublimely intricate, but its getting difficult to get the words hovering around my head to bring within a mental frame of reference. Like the tiny winged arthropods looming all over, it's getting harder to tame. (No reference to the Obama-Fly Swat whatsoever)

Have watched a parade of cinema, Have resumed the reading spree with Orhan Pamuk's Snow. (Oh! I HAVE to read him more).

I'm an ardent Michel Gondry admirer. At last got to watch his "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". This title has been taken from Alexander Pope's "Eloisa to Abelard". After a long time a film made me happy, I mean a certain uncertain kind of happiness. There is a Joel and Clementine everywhere we look at. Things never change, being forgetful or trying to become one only expedites the entire emotional exercise. The anti narrative format of storytelling leaves one feeling so unsymmetrically wonderful indeed. The things we do feel happening (to) inside us but that never gets visually exemplified, gets a life here. At first I was a bit queasy about watching someone as hilarious as Jim Carrey in a supposedly serious avatar(not accounting The Truman Show) but I was thankfully wrong this time.

My next watch was Almodovar's Volver. I always presumed I would like Pedro Almodovar, I don't know why, but I simply knew. I had a difficult time deciding which one to start with - All About my Mother or Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, or Bad Education. I finally zeroed in on Volver and I was rewarded with a satisfying experience like no other. A bright colourful film portraying women of three generation battling life and it various other encumbrances in the most effervescent way ever.

The third memorable watch being the Oscar winner "The Lives of Others" . I won't attempt to write anything about it, its worthy a watch (or may be more). Brilliant.

And, yes I'm currently taken with this song by Beck (also a part of the soundtrack of Danny Boyle's utterly forgettable "A Life Less Ordinary").

I'm in love with images but not getting enough of them (if only I was able to capture every beautiful moment occuring at all the accidental intervals).

I'm discovering jazz music from the past.

Jazz is beautiful, for melancholic evenings and otherwise.

P.S:

The last film watched was 21. Reminiscent of Ocean's 13.

About Dying Lakes and Bored Being (and her unsensible mutterings)

Deepor beel(a Ramsar site), one of the largest freshwater lakes in Northeast India and the home for many threatened species of birds and rich flora and fauna has been on the topic of discussion among many environmental enthusiasts. For the generations of fisherman community, who have been dwelling in the villages in and around the beel and who are largely depended on the this wetland as their the major source of livelihood, the threat is felt most acutely.


No, I'm not going to write a report accounting how terrible things are gradually turning out to be (particularly concerning everything related with the environment). I'm just giving away my experience when one fine summer morning recently, I walked to the beel in the company of my dear friend K to see the wild expanse at an early hour. The decision was worth taking. The collage is composed of the very many pictures of the land and the lake captured by me.

The ride on the the boat swirling around the deep marshes and the wild grasses proliferating, along with the company of all the sounds that have become so unfamiliar here otherwise ( e.g the breezes, the splashing of the oars hitting the water surface, the birds and the insects still humming) and the scene:

The pelicans flying over head,

The farmers ploughing,

The goats and pigs busy with their business.

For some time everything was at a standstill. Frozen moments.

The oarsman had been very kind, he was just returning from his daily early morning (read:2 am) fish-hunts. On being asked about the birds and the lake over the years, all he said, "Things have changed, now there are so less birds here and the fishes, well.... The lake is shrinking."

The ride ended soon

As far as my life is concerned, things are pretty staid.

My days sum up with the variables thus mentioned below:
Varied music (have been getting my eardrums muffled with Simon & Garfunkel, Incubus, Travis, The Shins and Coldplay)
Empty everydays, (surfing is all I've been doing)
and occasional cinema (watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 8 1/2, a repeat of Bandidas and 27 Dresses)
The ultimate equation formed is not that satisfying .
The sudden and unpredictable rainy nights and the rearing long warm summer mornings are so not apt for feeling all spirited.

A Song Recollected in the Early Morning

No, I was definitely not going to write it down here. But then ..

Few years back, I watched Bernando Bertolucci's 'Stealing Beauty' and I fell in love with Tuscany forever, making it part of my 'List-of-places-I've-to-go-before-I-die'. After 15 years of self imposed exile, Bernardo Bertolucci set his foot in Italy with this movie and he succeeded in making Italy so visually captivating and full of brilliance. The film is extremely well shot. But I don't plan to write a review. It is definitely among one of the most goodlooking films ever watched by me.

Today morning I woke up to find this song playing inside my head. It was included in the film soundtrack. Another song that was part of the OST was 'Glory Box" by Portishead. Loved it. It went very well with the entire feel of the film.

This sudden song revived the spendour of Tuscany that the film brought forth so excellently, Ah!! The dreamy mirage haunting you, inviting you.

P.S: Watched a number of films after a break.

1) Spirit of the Beehive (after a friend's recommendation)

2)It's a Boy/Girl Thing (part of the regulars)

3)Pulp Fiction (Ah! Tarantino and his wicked, exaggerated but stylised portrayal of everything violent)

4)The Four Hundred Blows. (Truffaut's Masterpiece)

Carousels and Lost Bubbles

Glimpses of Gandhi Mela

Carousel... do they make you dizzy??

The scariest ghost ever.. awe! :D

I go around the Merry-go round

"My Father, the Hero"

Uh..mmm.. Finger Licking Good!!!

Lost Bubbles

Multi-coloured Snacks

Those Glass delights

Cotton candies
The Man to whom it is Dedicated

P.S:

Watched "Nacho Libre" for a second time and like the first time, loved and enjoyed it. Jack Black is one irresistible funny man. Also watched Julie Taymor's "Across the Universe". Liked it in bits and pieces. Had the feeling that it had one song too many. But it was good to listen to some of the favourites from The Beatles after a long time.

'Things happen that are like questions'

No matter how hard I try to get regular, I always fall short, I mean my regularity in posting.

Many drafts are still stagnant waiting to be edited and ultimately posted.

Had a good last weeek. Some glimpses:

Wednesday:

In the backyard of our university (another forgotten corner), lies the eco-forest. Today my friend, J and I set out to 'explore'. She'd been to this forest many a time before, for me though it was a first. Our classes ended, so for some lone-time what better way than to go butterfly chasing? The forest is a heaven for butterflies, name them and you get to find them fluttering here. As J let me know , one of the the largest butterflies in Asia, the Southern Bird Wing, can also be found here. Since the decision to go there was sudden , of course, I was not prepared. Had a tough time threading the woods with my leather shoes and jhola bag. We were unable to go too deep but even that view was magnificient, the cool and tranquil essence that haunts woods, the delight that speaks even in its creepy silence, the sky looks so grand if you look at it sleeping on the stone bed, the lush green.... I can go on.

So, it was good to have the sands in my shoes and the dry wild flowers stuck in my unruly hair. We're tired but felt terrific and of course all the hours of walking without shoes (Yes, I took them of once I found out that they were a hindrance) did help- Had a sound sleep :I

Thursday:

Today, I was accompanied by some unusual company:

8 goats, 5 men- all of us cramped inside the backseat of a TATA Sumo.It was neither easy nor uneasy. But the bleating following a harmonic rhythm did not sound easy on the ears, that too at such close counter. This is nothing new for regular passengers of these vehicles. Like every where else, we need to adjust.

I came out without a scratch (mind you, it was almost an hour long journey) but the goats did have a tough time.

Friday/Saturday:

Two films were screened in the department: Slumdog Millionnaire and Fernando Mareilles' "City of God". Sir wanted us to compare the similarities in the narrative techniques , use of shots etc.

I personally liked both of them but "City of God' may be a few notch more. Have to say, Resul Pukutty deserved every bit of the Academy( for Slumdog Millionnaire), what with his amazing sound mixing which simply made watching this movie so memorable.

This Week's Screening:

I'm a film fanatic, so when it comes to films I won't be able to make a fast exit. Love our paper 402 (Film Appreciation). We are currently studing the La Nouvelle Vague( French New Wave) and to give a feel of the wave our Sir is going to make us watch Jean Luc Godard's phenomenal "A bout de Souffle" (Breathless).

Hopefully will be writing an 'almost review' soon. Till then a colourful Holi to everyone.