Yes, that’s what I’m rolling into- a calmer phase of life. The last few weeks/months/years have been the most hectic time of my life. I’ve done a lot and missed out on a lot in this time. For now, I’ll just update on the past few weeks. Post Indore Marathon, I had yet another challenge as the head of Creative and Design Vertical of ahvan ‘09, the Annual Management Summit of IIM Indore (previously called IRIS). My team’s work in ahvan will take another blog post which will come soon too *fingers crossed*. It was one hell of a roller coster ride. An experience I’d never miss for my life even if I’ve to relive the days all over again. The appreciation by the batch was well worth the efforts. But about that later. Right now, I’m almost done with most of my extra-currics here. I’m again in the creatives team of “Mridang”, the maiden cultural fest of IIM Indore to be held in January, but I’m not heading it this time. Harish is taking over all the headache. As a member, I hope to get some respite, and a badly needed break lest I run out of my already depleting creative brainwaves. :p

So basically, now I have some time at hand. I say this in the light of the fact that my second year academics aren’t that rigorous. Sessions for five of the nine courses for this trimester are over. End term exams for a few of them are also done. Remaining courses will have some classes/assignments/projects/presentations to keep me busy, but I think I’ll be able to handle them quite well, specially after the rigor we were made to go through in the first year. Besides this, I’ve a market research industry project from CavinKare to work on. Data collection is done. Analysis and recommendations remain. Even that shouldn’t take much time. Though all this might seem like some work already, I’m pretty relaxed cuz these stopped mounting up stress on me long time back.

Also, I’ve this Malaysian trip coming up in december immediately as my term ends. But before that, I also have a 2 day workshop here at campus by Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam. Excited to meet him in person and actually learn something from him first hand.

Since I’m already deriving how much time I’m now gonna have at hand, let me also add that I’ve only one trimester left before I pass out from this Institute. That’ll run from 22nd December to 27th February. Fortunately, I’ve covered most of my credits in my first 5 trimesters by taking a huge pile up of subjects in each. So I’ll be needing to cover ONLY 8 credits in the third term (compare that to 28 credits this term) . I’ve taken 3 courses for the last term (4+2+2). These include:

1) Personal Growth Lab (4 credits): Now this course is absolutely AWESOME. Don’t believe me?? Here is how the course description goes:

1. You learn practices and principles that enable you to enjoy a new level of Well Being and higher levels of energy. You can manage stress better and remain calm and be peaceful.
2. You learn techniques to let go of the baggage of the past and tools to let go of emotions (such as anger, regrets, upsets, resentment, fears etc.) that may be overwhelming or weighing you down. As a result, you will have access to being more relaxed, being more open and being more productive.
3. You learn communication techniques that enable you to be effective even in challenging situations.
4. You learn meditation techniques that enable you to be more aware and centred.
5. You have an opportunity to reinvent yourself, develop your sense of humour and widen your horizon

4 modules (spanning over 20 sessions)
Module1: Wellbeing
Module2: Freedom and Happiness
Module3: Reinventing yourself and Compassionate Communication
Module4 Presentation on ‘My life: Vision and Mission’

Now you may think I took it up coz it was a ‘light’ course with no exams/assignments (which is actually one of the motivations to be honest) but I do believe that such courses are a necessity to prepare you for the ‘dog-eat-dog’ corporate world out there. Plus, the course apparently includes meditation too. I anyways used to sleep in lectures. Now I’ll even get credits for that. #awesome

2) Building Creative Potential (2 credits): This is yet another awesome course. It involves workshops (no exams/assignments again :]). Well the course objectives read like this:

• To facilitate harnessing of participants’ creative potential and develop an understanding of creativity and creative thinking
• To develop creative capabilities and creative problem solving skills for application in everyday work and organizational settings

5 workshops (spanning over 10 sessions)
Workshop 1: Introduction to creative thinking and building creative potential in organizations
Workshop 2: Lateral thinking
Workshop 3: Ideation
Workshop 4: Morphological Analysis
Workshop 5: Synectics

With my involvement in creatives of festivals, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. :]

3) Rural Marketing (2 credits): The only ‘true-management-type’ subject in my third term. Makes sense to know how to tap the would-be biggest consumer market in the world (including both India and China). Though personally I wouldn’t like to work in a rural setting but will help in the strategies of any company planning to tap into rural markets.

So you see how much free time I’m gonna have in the coming days. Well, placements will be there in Jan end/ Feb start. I should be worried about them but frankly speaking I’m not. Not cuz I’m in an IIM and I’m sure of getting a placement or something (that’s just an urban myth) or cuz I’m well prepared with stuff but only cuz if IIM Indore has taught me one thing, it is to LIVE every moment of my life and not barely survive it like the rest of the crowd is doing. Money/Job Profile/Brand name matters but only to an extent. It would sound far fetched but now I see more clearly than ever how world is getting into one big rat race. I prefer to call it a rat marathon. And honestly, I don’t intend to be a part of it. Maybe I’ve been a part of it by trying to achieve maximum in the minimum time frame all my life, but no more. I’m pretty clear about one thing: Money or no money, I’m gonna do what I like doing the most. I don’t exactly know what I’d like to do for the rest of my life. But the moment that strikes me, I’m gonna give it a shot leaving whatever I’m doing, no strings attached. I guess I owe a lot of this confidence to the brand name of IIM. With that and some basic intelligence, I think finding a job for surviving will never be a problem. Life’s rolling by and I want to spend it doing what I want to do and not what everyone expects me to do. So there…

Meanwhile, in the free time that I now have I plan the following things:

• Read as much as I can
• Finish off revamping my room
• Complete drawing life size Calvin and Hobbes (I bought the biggest sketch-color packet available and the biggest white sheets available at the stationary store for the purpose *excited*)
• Find appropriate place and stick the gazillion large stickers that I got of Batman, Spiderman, Pooh bear, Kung-fu Panda, Spongebob Squarepants (yeah, I’m still 5 :p)
• Update myself with whatever is happening around the world and in different sectors (will help in placements too)
• Learn/Play guitar even more often
• Blog more often and write more articles
• Eat a lot and gain more weight (I’ve no idea why I don’t gain weight even though I eat so much. It’s kinda good I guetss)
• Be regular at gym again and redistribute the gained weight (if any) in proper places :p
• Video blog starting the Malaysian trip or maybe before that

Will add more later…

For now, a sumptuous breakfast awaits me!!
Signing off,
Sadaf

A relação Mestre/discípulo é uma das tradições mais formidáveis da Índia. Sua estrutura remonta a um período em que a escrita ainda não havia sido inventada, ou não era tão amplamente disseminada. Nessa época remota, o aprendizado era perpetuado pelo parámpará (um após o outro), ou seja, o Mestre detinha o conhecimento e o passava pessoalmente ao discípulo. Quando o Mestre morresse, o discípulo era promovido ao cargo do Mestre, e passava ele próprio a transmitir os ensinamentos do preceptor.

A história conta que quando a escrita passou a ser popularizada, os Mestres da época afirmaram que aquele seria o fim do conhecimento. Acreditava-se que, a partir do momento em que os ensinamentos fossem registrados em livros, as nuances de cada matéria se perderiam. Quando lidamos com uma filosofia tão complexa quanto o Yôga, podemos mesmo acreditar que eles estavam certos.

Atualmente, muitos conceitos sobre essa relação de aprendizado foram deturpados. Inúmeros autores afirmam coisas sobre o discipulado como que para fazer média com os leitores, e captar mais alunos. Inusitadamente, quero usar o filme Kung-Fu Panda como exemplo disso.

Nesse filme de animação computadorizada, o Mestre raposa Shi-Fu é atormentado pelo seu fracasso com seu primeiro discípulo, o tigre Tai-Lung. Ele se tornou orgulhoso e maligno depois que Oogway, o Grão-Mestre tartaruga, se recusa a lhe entregar o pergaminho do Dragão – ensinamento e comenda máxima do Kung-Fu. Por um acaso, surge Po, o urso panda trapalhão que termina por dominar o Kung-Fu e a derrotar Tai-Lung.

O primeiro pecado do filme é culpar o Mestre pelo mau comportamento do discípulo. O segundo é supor que um novo discípulo poderia corrigir os “erros” do Mestre. Mas o mais arrogante foi na cena final, quando Po usa um golpe contra Tai-Lung que Shi-Fu não havia lhe ensinado. Ele olha pra câmera e diz sorridente: -”Aprendi sozinho!”

O que redime o roteiro é a cena em que Oogway entra em “mahá samádhi” debaixo de um pessegueiro após um excelente diálogo com Shi-Fu. Mesmo assim, não dá pra usar Kung-Fu Panda como referência no que diz respeito a relação Mestre/discípulo. Recomendo a vídeo-aula de mesmo nome disponível como web-class na seção de downloads do site www.metododerose.org

We went and saw Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs we saw in the theater but chose not do to 3D because my kids hate having the glasses on and in 3D if you take your glasses off the screen is blurry… plus 3D costs more. I was the only person in my family excited to see the movie. I read the book growing up and was thinking it would be cool. I felt it was sort of a let down. Do not get me wrong the movie wasn’t horrible but I do not know that I will buy it.. Only time will tell though. I would give the movie 3 stars. My kids and husband felt pretty much the same way although my kids really loved all the yummy food and scientific stuff. The story was a bit weak though I think the essence of the book still shone through.

I saw both The Kung Fu Panda and WALL·E in the theater. At the time I probably would have said 4 1/2 stars for The Kung Fu Panda and 4 stars for WALL·E. Since I now own them both on Blu-ray and watch them quite often I would now have to say I rate them both 5 stars.

The Kung Fu Panda, is not only likable it is down right adorable. From the witty humor to the fantastic animation it is a solid movie. The story also is a good one with a good moral though I do not know if children grasp that level of it. I know my kids just think a big fat panda bear saying HI-YAH is hilarious.

WALL·E, on the other hand on first viewing was a bit depressing to me even though my kids thought it the most fantastic movie ever I was a bit annoyed. I think because I usually watch animation movies to escape the real world and this movie just made me think more about real things. It is a very deep movie. It delves into our world and how we are as people. Of course most kids won’t get this either. My two love it because there are robots and spaceships. Since it is Pixar you know the movie is Gold anyway.. or at least I do. Now that I have watched it a gazillion times I think my mind has kind of learned not to think on the things and just watch it for the silly parts, making it a more enjoyable experience.

Up, which is also a Pixar movie, is a great film. We saw it in the theater and at that time I would have given it 4 stars but now that we own it on Blu-ray I have to say 5 stars. It has a deep story ( more so for the opening of the film.) But it is a light-hearted, sweet, family friendly movie. I will say that my oldest child got the depth of the beginning in a way.. She wanted to know why the lady couldn’t have a baby.. My son not so much but he is very frightened by the “mean” dogs.  Overall, I give it 5 stars and I think right now it is the family’s # 1 pick.

Bolt, my daughter and I saw in the theater. She loved it I thought it was so-so. At the time I would have given it 2 1/2 to 3 stars.  Since then we have bought it on, can you guess? Yep, Blu-ray. After re-watching it, I think I would give it 3 1/2 to 4 stars. I think the casting of the voice of the lead girl (Miley Cyrus) was a bad choice. Her voice is kinda raspy and deep and for some reason it really annoys me. However, I LOVE the hamster’s voice – I think it goes perfect. The storyline was not too bad but at times a bit cheesy to me. Overall still good enough to watch. FYI – My son is very afraid of the green-eyed man.

Only 2 of the top 30 highest grossing films of this decade are original, did ya know that? Slash Film has compiled the list of the top grossing films and figured that most are not original stories. Most are based on a past film or tv show (remake/sequel), or an adaptation of an established property (be it a comic, book, play, toy…etc).

Find out more and the list after the jump!

Which is the only original feature film to make it into the the top 20 grossing films of this decade (so far)? Answer after the jump.

Finding Nemo, which lands at #15 with $864.6 million.

If you take a look at the top 30 films from this decade, there is only one other original film property among the bunch, that being…

DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda, #30 spot with $631.7 million.

In fact, out of the top 50 grossing films of this decade, there are only 9 movies based on original properties. And five of those nine films were created by Pixar Animation Studios. How sad…

1 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King New Line Cinema $1,119,110,941 2003
2 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest Disney $1,066,179,725 2006
3 The Dark Knight Warner Bros. $1,001,921,825 2008
4 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Warner Bros. $974,733,550 2001
5 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End Disney $960,996,492 2007
6 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Warner Bros. $938,212,738 2007
7 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Warner Bros. $929,022,922 2009
8 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers New Line Cinema $925,282,504 2002
9 Shrek 2 DreamWorks SKG $919,838,758 2004
10 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Warner Bros. $895,921,036 2005
11 Spider-Man 3 Columbia $890,871,626 2007
12 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Warner Bros. $878,643,482 2002
13 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 20th Century Fox $878,615,229 2009
14 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring New Line Cinema $870,761,744 2001
15 Finding Nemo Disney / Pixar $864,625,978 2003
16 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 20th Century Fox $848,754,768 2005
17 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Paramount $833,229,011 2009
18 Spider-Man Columbia $821,708,551 2002
19 Shrek the Third DreamWorks SKG $798,958,162 2007
20 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Warner Bros. $795,634,069 2004
21 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Paramount $786,636,033 2008
22 Spider-Man 2 Columbia $783,766,341 2004
23 The Da Vinci Code Sony / Columbia $758,239,851 2006
24 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Disney $745,011,272 2005
25 The Matrix Reloaded Warner Bros. $742,128,461 2003
26 Transformers DreamWorks / Paramount $709,709,780 2007
27 Ice Age: The Meltdown 20th Century Fox $655,388,158 2006
28 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Disney $654,264,015 2003
29 Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones 20th Century Fox $649,398,328 2002
30 Kung Fu Panda DreamWorks SKG $631,736,484 2008
31 The Incredibles Disney / Pixar $631,442,092 2004
32 Hancock Columbia $624,386,746 2008
33 Ratatouille Disney / Pixar $623,707,397 2007
34 The Passion of the Christ Newmarket $611,899,420 2004
35 Mamma Mia! Universal $609,841,637 2008
36 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa DreamWorks SKG $603,900,344 2008
37 Casino Royale MGM / Columbia $594,239,066 2006
38 War of the Worlds DreamWorks / Paramount $591,745,540 2005
39 Quantum of Solace MGM / Columbia $586,090,727 2008
40 I Am Legend Warner Bros. $585,349,010 2007
41 Iron Man Paramount $585,133,287 2008
42 Night at the Museum 20th Century Fox $574,480,450 2006
43 King Kong Universal $550,517,357 2005
44 Mission: Impossible II Paramount $546,388,105 2000
45 The Day After Tomorrow 20th Century Fox $544,272,402 2004
46 Madagascar DreamWorks SKG $532,680,671 2005
47 The Simpsons Movie 20th Century Fox $527,071,022 2007
48 Monsters, Inc. Disney / Pixar $525,366,597 2001
49 WALL-E Disney / Pixar $521,268,237 2008
50 Meet the Fockers Universal $516,642,939 2004

…aaaanndd we’re back!

- If you live in Florida and you care even a little bit about letting responsible adults choose for themselves whether or not they feel that marijuana, a completely naturally occurring plant that has yet to kill a single person in the history of mankind, would be an effective treatment for their ailments, sign this petition sponsored by People United For Medical Marijuana for a constitutional amendment that “gives patients the right to grow, obtain, purchase and possess medical marijuana under a doctor’s supervision.” Pharmaceutical companies have been gouging the American public for decades, and have spent untold millions, if not billions, fighting the legalization of marijuana for anyone, and especially those who could use it, because the idea of a easily grown multiple-use panacea like marijuana is anathema to their entire business plan. Fight it.
- I would imagine choosing the 15 hottest big-breasted Japanese gravure models is something like figuring out who the best 15 NBA players are, or what the best types of candy are – no matter what, everyone comes away satisfied.
- Jessica Alba getting spanked. Just…wow.
- This is really pathetic: out of the top 30 grossing films of this decade, two weren’t remakes or sequels or adaptations of established properties, “Finding Nemo” and “Kung Fu Panda”. That’s it. I wonder when people are gonna be so over all of it that they go back to books.
- Miss Universe Japan 2008 Hiroko Mima. Miss Universe Trinidad & Tobago 2008 Anya Ayoung-Chee. Oh, and Anya’s boyfriend. Together, naked in a hotel room with a video camera. What’s the worst that could happen?
- “Men suck at eating pussy; not because they don’t like it, but because it’s really fucking hard.” Oh, internet – you never disappoint, do you?
- Back when Arizona State University decided against giving President Barack Obama an honorary degree when he delivered a speech there, a lot of people asked, “What does ASU have going for it?” Well…
- It may be considered contemporary art, and it may only reach 20 mph when it’s all said and done, but damn turning an old-school SEGA Outrun arcade game into an actual working vehicle? That’s so fucking cool.
- I don’t watch “Dancing With The Stars”, but the fact that Joanna Krupa and Mya were on this season almost pulled me in. Especially Mya; I’ve been checking for her since she was making songs with Silkk the Shocker.
- “Sir! The Romulans have launched a bevy of photon torpedoes across our starboard bow, reducing our shields to 23% and…is that fucking R2-D2?”
- Look – we’re all nerds, OK? It’s just that some of us don’t know what type of nerd we are; that’s where this handy quiz comes in.
- Some people out there can’t stand the Wii. They say it’s not a real console, it’s meant to gouge the pockets of gullible families, blah blah blah. If you think that way, check this collection of videos out, and let me know if you still feel the same.
- Sigh…honestly? If you’re gonna fuck around with a C-string, just don’t wear panties at all. Seriously, at that point underwear’s just more trouble than it’s worth.
- Everyday I hear about something that brings a smile to my face, because it reminds me that despite all the crap going on in the world, I’m living in “the future”, where the miracles of science are limited only be the bounds of human imagination. Today? “Scientists create bacteria that lights up around landmines.”
- Slayer and Megadeth are on tour with Testament, and tickets are only $10! It’s 1991’s “Clash of the Titans” all over again!
- On June 12, 1970, San Diego Padres pitcher Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter. An impressive feat, but not all that historically noteworthy…until it came out that Ellis was massively tripping on LSD the whole time. This is his story:

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• Kung Fu Panda

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Síntesis del film.

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Kung Fu Panda cuenta la historia de Po, un oso panda, bastante perezoso y glotón, que trabaja en el restaurante de su padre. Pero su sueño es convertirse en un gran luchador de Kung Fu y unirse a los 5 maestros del Kung Fu: tigresa, mono, mantis, serpiente y grulla.

Un día se entera que habrá una competición para elegir al Guerrero del Dragón. Por accidente, Po entra en la competición y es elegido por Oogway, el viejo sabio, como el Guerrero Dragón.

Debido a ello, el Maestro Shifu tendrá que entrenar a Po para convertirle en un Maestro de Kung Fu, enseñándole los secretos del arte marcial.

Po se prepara para defender a los habitantes de la ciudad, y descubrirá que sus mayores debilidades pueden llegar a ser sus mayores fortalezas.

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Para pensar.

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Cuando los maestros del Kung Fu ven a Po, lo primero que hacen es reírse. No pueden creer que un ser tan simple pueda ser el elegido para llevar el título de “Guerrero Dragón.”.

El único que ve más allá es el viejo sabio, quien le dice la clave al Maestro Shifu para que no abandone su meta antes de empezar. La misma es muy simple y a la vez, muy difícil de poner en práctica:

“Solo necesitas creer”.

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¿Nunca te ha pasado que todos se burlan de ti porque sos distinto al resto?

¿No te has sentido discriminado por ser un poco más gordo, más bajo, más morocho?

¿En algún momento no te has quitado los anteojos y has ido a tientas solo para que no se burlen de ti?

Lo importante no es lo que se ve en el exterior. Lo importante se lleva dentro, es la esencia de cada uno.

¿De qué sirve ser blanco de piel, si tu corazón está teñido de negro?

¿De que sirve estar pendiente de la dieta, si por ello no vas a tener amigos?

.

Cómo decia Antoine Saint Exupéry, en su libro “El principito”:

“Sólo con el corazón se puede ver bien. Lo esencial es invisible para los ojos.”

No vayas por la vida tratando de agradarle a los demás.

Se tu mismo, cultivando lo mejor de ti y verás que es más que suficiente.

Pero para ello, como dijo el viejo sabio:

“Solo necesitas creer”… en ti!

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The kids have a plastic Po toy, the lead panda character from the movie Kung Fu Panda.  You move his arm and he’ll make several different kung fu fighting noises.  However, I never knew “Suck a douche” was common kung fu speak.

Tenía esta entrada en borrador desde hace tiempo pero sólo hasta hoy que me la repito, como por tercera vez, me animo a publicarla formalmente. En fin, peli de John Stevenson y Mark Osborne de 2008, nominada al Oscar como mejor película animada, con doce premios, veinte nominaciones más y ratificando a Jack Black como un héroe de los niños en los Kids’ Choice Awards.

Es una historia sencilla con una moraleja de crecimiento personal y sobretodo de autoconfianza, de fé en uno mismo y en los sueños que lo caracterizan como individuo único. Bonita.

Sin embargo, hay aspectos realmente delirantes en la peli que la hacen particularmente excelente. Lo primero, Dreamworks saliendose del esquema de Shrek, que le dió tantos triunfos y reinventándose con un excelente producto.

Dos, Jack Black como un enorme oso panda llamado Po, un gordo lleno de ilusiones y sueños, su papel de toda la vida, con esa voz de Black tan característica de él, tan entusiasta y llena de falsos logros, de superación y adoración de héroes imaginarios; esta vez con la personificación de un niño de diez años, muy trabajador, muy responsable pero con la cabeza llena de fantasías.

Tres, Ian McShane, actor que recordamos en la exitosa Deadwood, poniendo esa voz profunda, oscura y macabra en el lado antagónico de la historia sobre un tigre de bengala dominado por su orgullo y descarriado al lado oscuro del Kung Fu. Esta voz y la del comandante Vachir a cargo de Michael Clarke Duncan me parecen realmente sobresalientes.

Cuatro, los apuntes de David Cross y Seth Rogen.

Cinco, la dirección de arte a cargo de Raymond Zibach combinado con las cámaras y cinematografía de Yong Duk Jhun (obviamente este dato me lo bajé de IMDb) hacen que la peli sea consistente, interesante, divetida, entretenida, un buen plan para pasar el rato así uno ya se la haya visto.

Seis, la secuencia animada del principio, en una simulación 2D bien interesante. Un sueño de Po describiendo un estado épico del equipo de los 5 Furiosos y El Guerrero Dragón, una secuencia de katas del más fino arte marcial y después contrastado con la caricatura en la que se convierte al final esta secuencia me parece el premio mayor.

Obviamente, un trabajo impresionante de todo ese equipo técnico, tan grande pero que logran resolver de una manera sencilla todo el tema del 3D, el matte painting, los mapas, los esqueletos, las animaciones, los sostenidos, las secuencias, etc… Y sumado al impresionante resto del reparto como son Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Randall Duk Kim, el legendario James Hong y hasta Wayne Knight, hacen de esta obra un paquete sin igual.

Nota. Me volvió a suceder que no encontraba un afiche que me gustara completamente y me tocó hacer el mío. Ojalá les guste.

Pre-Production is when the filmmakers and Producers have been green lit to make a film and are finishing the script, gathering funds, casting and hiring. There is a good chance the film will be made at this point, though until it’s in post-production, there is never any guarantee. And sometimes there’s no guarantee it will be released even when it’s completely finished.

But, on IMDB Pro, here are some of the films listed as in Pre-Production:

Saw 7 - In 3D! (I’m not kidding.)

Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2

Wanted 2

Lethal Weapon 5

Kung Fu Panda 2

Rambo 5: The Savage Hunt

Scream 4 (Do you see a theme with sequels? There are plenty more coming.)

The Three Stooges - with Benicio Del Toro as Moe and Paul Giamatti as Larry. Sean Penn was originally Larry, but dropped out. I loved the Three Stooges growing up, but I’m shocked at the quality of actors they are getting. This may actually be pretty good.

Total Recall – This is still in the script phase. The original film with Arnold Schwarzenegger is super cool. They better not cast someone like Vin Diesel in the lead role.

Red Sonja - Rose McGowen starts, but her boyfriend Robert Rodriguez is not directing, only producing this film. I’m a Rodriguez fan, but with him not at the helm, I’m uncertain about this film. I’m not a big McGowen fan.

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea: Sam Worthington from Terminator is Captain Nemo. There’s potential here.

My Fair Lady - A remake to star Kiera Knightley as Eliza Dolittle. She looks the part (Audrey Hepburn played the part in the original film, though she didn’t sing.) Can Kiera sing? Guess we’ll see. Wonder who will play Professor Higgins? An interesting note: Emma Thompson is writing the screenplay.

Spring Awakening - A very successful new musical. I’m very curious to see who will be cast. The girl from Glee was in the original Broadway production. Maybe she has a shot.

Mary the Mother of Christ - with Al Pacino as Herod. Oh, the jokes, the jokes…

The Warriors – A remake Benny is super excited about. No news on casting yet. Probably will be mostly unknowns.

Hamlet - Another one? This one with Emile Hirsch. The Speed Racer guy? He better have the acting chops for this or it could be a disaster. I am always interested in who will be Ophelia. Kate Winslet rocked it in Kenneth Branagh’s version and the best part of the Mel Gibson one was Helena Bonham Carter’s Ophelia.

Jack and Jill - with Adam Sandler playing both parts. Was Jim Carrey busy?

Excalibur - Bryan Singer is doing this film. Love him. The Usual Suspects is an all time favorite of mine and I love the King Arthur mythology. However, the original Excalibur film is awesome, so I’m not sure what Singer can bring to the story. No casting news yet. I wonder if they will remake Camelot the musical too?

Battlestar Galactica- I’m a huge fan of this series and I’d love to see a film version. Right now Bryan Singer is also slated to direct this, though it looks like it’s a long way from being a done deal.

Warcraft - Directed by Sam Raimi, this could be fun.

Last Friday, while attempting to write yet another lengthy post about the London Film Festival, I was repeatedly distracted by Twitter. This is nothing new. However, one of the people I follow whose name escapes me now (sorry) linked to an article posted on the film discussion site The Auteurs. I’d heard of it before but stayed away as I thought it had something to do with the dreary Luke Haines band, but in fact it’s a nice way to completely waste hours of your time, rating and “favouriting” movies to create a Profile for yourself, complete with representative movie still selection so you can have an iconic image next to your name (I went with Gene Hackman in The Conversation). It was pleasantly pointless, though I did take enormous pleasure in giving Slumdog Millionaire and Happy-Go-Lucky one star each, and Kung Fu Panda the five stars it so richly deserves. Take that, Sight and Sound subscribers.

The article that directed me to this site via Twitter was this lovely little prose poem half-heartedly giving Michael Bay some credit while referring to “fascism” and suchlike. This is possibly the only even vaguely positive critique of Bay’s work I’ve seen on the Internet that hasn’t been written by a teenager with an apostrophe allergy, and as such deserves to be preserved in amber. It might never happen again. As I said earlier this year, my opinion of Bay is torn between fascination and revulsion, the latter becoming more pronounced after the casual (but no less odious) racial insensitivity of Transformers — with the breakdancing jive-talking African-American parody known as Jazz getting killed in the final act, as is sadly the norm in movies — “transformed” into the full-on indefensible racial stereotyping of Skids and Mudflap. Shades of Caruso reader and former Transformers fan Lindywasp (one of her noms de Net) once sent me a very passionate disavowal of the sequel after an upsetting experience at a screening where the audience went from excited to silence once the extent of the caricature settled in. I was concerned by Bay’s decision before, but after reading her heartfelt condemnation, I became furious.

Though I’ll not be able to think of Bay without thinking about that incredible cloth-eared arrogance, I have still long been fascinated — as Daisyhellcakes can attest, having listened to me go on about it at length — by his public persona as the Fratboy DeMille, a man who stomps around like an over-excited teenager while making canny backroom deals for profit points, keeping the cost of his (sill expensive) movies down with obnoxious product placement, and buying effects houses such as Digital Domain. This bravado is ripe for parody, most brilliantly by the faux-Twitterer Fake Michael Bay (sample tweet: “Dammit, if I had a dollar for every time I dropped my iphone out of a helicopter doing a barrel roll…”), though I suspect he’s in on the joke.

Even more fascinating to me than Bay the Man/Douchebag is that signature style of his. Like haphazardly edited two-hour-long trailers, his films are plot-light endurance tests; a relentless swarm of images that he hurls at the audience, seemingly not caring why image B must follow image A. As long as the barrage of glowing, flashing, swirling pictures and the cacophony of multi-tracked sound effects keeps audiences pinned to their seats, Bay seems to think “Job done!” and then returns to his swanky Bay-Cave to drink Crystal and watch Total Wipeout. Is this good filmmaking? Hell no, and as I’ve attempted to explain before, I would never be able to argue that it was (though Danny Boyle’s similar everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach wins critical approval and Oscars). However, he does create an experience that no one else has the studio backing, the technical know-how, and the obnoxious confidence to be able to pull off.

Examples: Transformers ends with a city being pulverised, complete with epic firefights on a main street that totals buildings and blows up cars. The destruction-gasm setpiece in Pearl Harbor — a wretched film of enormous ethical dubiousness — contains the single most expensive shot caught on film, which is ghoulish, wasteful, and logistically impressive all at the same time. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is capped off with a huge scene where an Egyptian village gets mashed into the ground, pretty much (I’m sure it was not a real village, but if it’s fake he still managed to get it built before blowing bits of it up). He shows aircraft carriers getting split in half as if it ain’t no thing. These are stereotypically big and dumb crowd-pleasing moments that I’m sure Eric Rohmer’s fanbase would consider utterly vulgar, but they look impressive in slices. It’s not in Bay’s interest to coral these images into a coherent narrative other than “Man go from point A to point B while the world explodes.” It’s enough for him to hint that there is a goal that his heroes are trying to achieve, and as long as it seems there is some kind of forward momentum while he stages bravura visual orgasms containing complicated visual and physical effects, that’s enough for him.

Again, I’m aware that this is not technically artistically valid on a large-scale level, but on a micro-level, I cannot look away. Every dumb populist miscalculation like his nasty treatment of women, or his blindness to the wrongness of using racial stereotypes for stupid lowest-common denominator jokes, or his infantile reliance on slapstick and screaming instead of nuance and character growth, or any number of other admittedly dreadful habits, run parallel to his facility with composition. There are so many shots he has created that make my eyes wobble with pleasure that I cannot forget them. His reliance on patriotic button-pushing aside, he can create stirring moments just through imagery in a way that would probably make propagandists salivate. That ability to capture an emotion through manipulative visuals, aided by the pounding music of Hans Zimmer or Steve Jablonsky, is unparalleled. He truly is Leni Riefenstahl with a baseball cap and a collection of sports-cars in his Beverly Hills mansion.

And yet, despite this facility with imagery — perhaps the one thing I think even his detractors should accept, even if really really really grudgingly — he is treated like the Boogeyman. Numerous people accuse Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen of being the worst film of the year. Granted, it’s not very good, but I’ve seen far far far worse movies released this year. Just a cursory flick through the Auteurs site sees a number of forum threads based around hating him, including Why is Michael Bay on Criterion?, Is Michael Bay the worst director of all time?, and Reasons to *HATE* Michael Bay. The thread NAME THE FILM MAKERS YOU THINK SHOULD RETIRED OR SHOULD NOT BELONG TO THIS INDUSTRY AT ALL is filled with calls for Bay’s immediate withdrawal from the film industry. I get the feeling that this is a running joke, though it is borne of genuine frustration at his movies and his success.

They’re not the only ones who dislike him, of course. Mainstream critics are revolted by his movies, and even on a site oft-visited by the people you would think comprise his most ardent fanbase (Ain’t It Cool News), Bay is treated like a pariah. “Damn You Michael Bay” is a long-running Internet joke that has become a mantra. Bay hatred appears to be reflexive, the last word in an argument. Why accuse any other filmmakers of crimes against decency? Isn’t it obvious that Bay is the worst of the worst, representing everything that is debased and evil about modern cinema? He’s an unpleasant man with poor taste who appeals to the slack-jawed yokels and the hoodies and the youths with their popcorn and their knives and their mobile phones and suchlike and so on and so on etc. ad infinitum.

He’s the Hitler of films. Mike Godwin postulated that the overuse of mentioning Hitler in online arguments was sadly inevitable (“As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.”) Well, I reckon that there is another law we can accept as fact by now. “As an online discussion about film or culture grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Michael Bay approaches 1.” I don’t think this law should be associated with my real life name, which doesn’t have the Ooomph that “Godwin” has (that’s the kind of name that belongs in front of the word “law”). Therefore I propose we refer to this as Burke’s Law, named after the TV series from the 60s that was revived in the 90s. Why Burke’s Law? Because I always hear that phrase said in the same way as in the 90s title sequence, i.e. with this voice…

…and there is nothing more awesome than that. Sex up that show title, Sexy-Voiced Lady. (Here’s the first part of a full episode, just to show it in amazing context.)

So yeah, whenever a discussion about sucky film directors inevitably begins to focus almost exclusively on the vapidity of Bay’s destructo-porn epics, feel free to mention Burke’s Law. If Bay is what people think represents the true nadir of modern filmmaking, that’s up to them, but if they’re not willing to expand their search to other far less talented individuals out there, then I just can’t take them seriously. I see Dr. Uwe Boll get mentioned a lot, and he’s certainly a candidate. He’s made a shit-ton of laughably awful movies in the past — many more than Bay — and he has now tried to make himself seem classier by making a film about Darfur. However, he’s filming real rape victims re-enacting their own rape for his camera. Making fun of his shitty output suddenly doesn’t seem so funny.

If we’re going to talk about directors who create deafening, poorly storyboarded and edited action scenes that substitute crashing, clashing cacophony for flow and plot momentum, how about Stephen Sommers? He combines Bay’s inability to understand the clear, unambiguous narrative progression of a movie or an action scene with a flat eye for visuals, as evidenced by the busy but tedious G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra? Or Rob Cohen, a man who has yet to make even a half-way decent action movie? Though I’ve not seen his most recent movie — Fast and Furious — I did endure Stealth (where some of the best visual effects ever committed to film were wasted on a farrago of galactic proportions) and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, which actually managed to be the worst film in the Mummy franchise. It takes a special kind of witless hack to out-Stephen-Sommers Stephen Sommers. I’d rather watch a Bay action scene than something by either of these guys any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

I’d also like to make the case for Robert Luketic, who keeps pumping out the most artless dreck, seemingly with no understanding of what cinema can do. His last three films were lifeless committee-borne crowd-pleasers that couldn’t even be bothered to do anything pleasurable, rendered even more unbearable by being presented in a lifeless cavalcade of wretchedly awful compositions. As a bonus they also featured either reductive, retrograde gender-politics (Monster-In-Law and The Ugly Truth) or ethnic white-washing (the utterly worthless 21). Or what about Jon Avnet, aka the modern day Ed Wood? His last two movies — Righteous Kill and the incredible 88 Minutes — were among the most catastrophically misjudged movies I have ever seen, made by someone without a single artistic bone in his body. It’s so bad that I suspect he doesn’t even understand the scripts he adapts. No matter how hard he tries, he will never be able to come up with a single memorable or inspiring image in his entire career. Not counting this one with Leelee Sobieski taking aim, that is.

If you’ve thought long and hard about it and have come to the conclusion that Bay is less talented than these directors, or that he represents something far greater than just bad filmmaking (i.e. he’s a mascot for the debasement of the culture at large), or that his Platinum Dunes production company is committing a terrible crime by making bland remakes of great horror movies, or that the compositions I love are just ugly but shiny commercialised parodies of actual art, or that he’s the worst kind of patriotism-spouting pro-military arrested adolescent, or even that he’s just an obnoxious douchebag (James Cameron without the brains or the talent), that’s perfectly understandable. I’m cool with that, if you show me your calculations. But don’t just say, “Michael Bay is the worst director ever” because that’s the accepted wisdom. That’s not film criticism. That’s letting someone else do your thinking for you.

Kung Fu Panda è un film d’animazione del 2008, diretto da Mark Osborne e John Stevenson e prodotto dalla DreamWorks Animation, che racconta le vicende di un imbranato panda gigante intento ad imparare le arti marziali. Il film è stato presentato fuori concorso al Festival di Cannes 2008.

Leggi altre notizie su: | Animazione | Commedia | Mark Osborne | John Stevenson | Jack Black | Dustin Hoffman | Angelina Jolie | Jackie Chan

O título deste post “A primeira regra é: não há regras!” é o que vovô Grohan diz ao Goku no filme Dragonball Evolution e o jeito de falar entregou que a voz era do mestre Oogway de Kung Fu Panda! Ligando os pontos, o ator de Dragonball Evolution é o ator que havia feito a bela voz do mestre! ^^ Amei a descoberta! =)

Randall Duk Kim (nasceu 24 de setembro de 1943) é um ator dos Estados Unidos da América que tem desempenhado uma grande variedade de papéis na sua carreira. Ele passou a maior parte de sua carreira no teatro, e foi co-fundador da American Players Theater em Spring Green, Wisconsin. Ele também foi um dos primeiros atores asiá-americanos a desempenhar um papel de liderança em uma produção americana de uma peça de Shakespeare; ele desempenhou o papel título Péricles na produção de 1974 do New York Public Theater.

Ele interpretou o chaveiro (The Matrix) em The Matrix Reloaded, e deu a voz a Oogway em Kung Fu Panda. Ele vai interpretar o grande e sábio vovô Grohan, que tanto no desenho quanto na adaptação Dragon Ball Evolution é avô de Goku, que o cuida quando menor.

Vamos de trailers:

Obrigado e abraços pessoal! ^^

After the semi-lackluster start to this year’s World Series (no offense, Cliff Lee), I hope that over the rest of the series the Phillies and Yankees battle it out for six games in the most epic of epic-est World Series to ever have epic-ed, and that, in the decisive game seven, it will come down to the very. last. out. Alex Rodriguez will come to bat with the bases loaded, the Yankees down by two, and the game, the series, and the season on the line.

And, with the spotlight on him on the biggest stage, with the Yankee Stadium crowd cheering him on feverishly like madmen, believing in a notoriously un-clutch player in the singular situation that clutch was born for, with suspense mounting at a hysteric pace and hearts beating furiously as the pitch speeds toward home plate- A-Rod wins the game with an emphatic screaming line drive double off the wall… and as he slides in to second and gets mobbed by his teammates, he can finally say to himself, and to the rest of Amerca, nay, the world, that he has proven once and for all…

…that Charlie Manuel should have picked Pablo Sandoval to represent the NL All-Stars this year instead of picking his own stupid Phillies. Pablo would have gone 5 for 3 with a 6 run homer and made an unassisted quadruple play to clinch home field for the National League in that All-Star Game if he had played. I hope the Yankees win because of (and in front of) their home crowd; and when they do, I hope Manuel hangs his head in shame.

Screw that guy.

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Now playing: The Big Pink – Dominos
via FoxyTunes

Kung Fu Panda
Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:00:01 +0200

KUNG-FU PANDA

Kung Fu fanatiği panda Po, Huzur Vadisini Kar Leoparı Tai Lungdan kurtarmak için Kung Fu dünyasına adım atar ve kendisine inanırsa neler yapabileceğini keşfeder.

Hayallerinin izini süren panda ayısının masalını, mesajı olan bir eğlencelik şeklinde anlatmaya karar veren film yapımcıları, bu filmi yaparken çeşitli masalların derlemesini yaratmışlar.

Yapım Yılı: 2008

Tür: Animasyon, Komedi
Yönetmen: Mark Osborne

Süre: 88

Ülke: Amerika

Kung Fu Panda
Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:00:01 +0200

KUNG-FU PANDA

Kung Fu fanatiği panda Po, Huzur Vadisini Kar Leoparı Tai Lungdan kurtarmak için Kung Fu dünyasına adım atar ve kendisine inanırsa neler yapabileceğini keşfeder.

Hayallerinin izini süren panda ayısının masalını, mesajı olan bir eğlencelik şeklinde anlatmaya karar veren film yapımcıları, bu filmi yaparken çeşitli masalların derlemesini yaratmışlar.

Yapım Yılı: 2008

Tür: Animasyon, Komedi
Yönetmen: Mark Osborne

Süre: 88

Ülke: Amerika

After we posted about all of the books that we have read that taught us all of these principles, I realized that we also have a growing list of movies that teach these same things. We’ve created a special page specifically for them here.

Acabo de ler algo interessante no “Atlas do Cinema Mundial” editado pelo Cahiers neste ano.

O lançamento de Kung-fu Panda, segundo o artigo, causou um debate nacional na China. Nas palavras do autor do texto: “O protagonista do filme é o tesouro nacional chinês e todos os elementos do filme são chineses. Por que não somos capazes de fazer um filme assim?”.

Isso vem bem a calhar no que uns amigos e eu concluímos sobre Rudo y Cursi. É um filme sobre dois irmãos de uma região muito pobre do interior. Um deles sonha em ser goleiro; o outro, cantor. O filme mostra a trajetória dos dois e envolve, entre outras coisas, pobreza e ascensão social, clientelismo, malandragem, vício em jogo, drogas, família, ascensão e queda, sonhos e decepções, e, acima de tudo, duas paixões populares brasileiras: futebol e música sertaneja (ou caipira, você vai entender o porquê).

Detalhe: o filme foi feito no México, dirigido pelo irmão de Afonso Cuáron, produzido por este, Iñárritu e Guillermo del Toro.

Rudo y Cursi foi um sucesso no México e nos Estado Unidos.

Eis a questão: por que o Brasil não é (e não foi nos últimos anos) capaz de produzir um filme comercial que junte este leque de questões tão próximas da nossa cultura popular?

Rudo y Cursi está longe de ser um grande filme, mas é pelo menos honesto, interessante, com uma certa ambição. Sai do imaginário classe média que marca os filmes do Daniel Filho.

Falta ao nosso cinema comercial trazer o imaginário popular brasileiro para o primeiro plano, nem que seja como penduricalho decorativo. Não se pode depender apenas dos “fatos reais” (Carandiru, Meu Nome Não Johnny), das figuras históricas (Olga, Cazuza) ou dos subprodutos televisivos (Se Eu Fosse Você, Os Normais). Deve haver um jeito de vender algo mais que a “limpeza” do pensamento pequeno-burguês e da zona sul carioca. Pode-se tentar. Por que não?

***

Outro ponto sintomático também é que Rudo y Cursi saiu direto em DVD. O que mais os distribuidores e exibidores brasileiros precisam para serem mais corajosos? Não muito corajosos, só um pouco mais?!

Carrões tunados? Mulheres gostosas? Mulheres gostosas nos capôs dos carros tunados?

I think uncertainty is one of the worst feelings a person can ever feel. The secondary emotions that go along with feeling uncertain differ depending on the person. Of course there’s that test “is the glass half full or half empty?” In my experience, more often than not people say half-empty just because that’s just how it is. “And that’s the way the cookie crumbles” — lol Bruce Almighty quote for those of you who know what I’m talking about.

Anyways, the secondary emotions are either fear or excitement. It’s usually excitement if something you’re about to strike gold, meaning you’re uncertain but you’re hopeful for fun and amazing times because, in reality, these fun times to be had are going to be fun. I’m feeling the other secondary emotion though… fear. It really sucks, there’s no good way out for me. Any way I cut the cake, the piece is going to crumble. Or in case no one understood me, I’m pretty much worried because my future hangs in the balance, yet I don’t seem to be able to overcome this level of smartness/logical-thinking that is required to get me anywhere in life.

The future looks bleak!

- – - – -

On another note, there were these old white males passing out new testament bibles at the De Neve/Gayley crosswalk and down on the corner of Strathmore/Gayley. I passed by three of them before the thought of taking one crossed my mind. I was walking back and I decided to get one from the guy. We chatted a little; turns out he is actually a very nice guy for having been told to pretty much ‘gtfo’ from most of the students walking to and from class. This was around 2:30pm and they’ve been out there since at least 9:30am (if not earlier). Anyways, point is I took one. Don’t know if I’m going to use it, though the odds are against me reading it.

Anyways, that quotation from Kung-Fu Panda came to my mind: ”Yesterday’s history, tomorrow’s a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.” What a happy blog post ending!

It seems as though every action movie has at least one scene where the hero is suspended over a large chasm on nothing but a shaky bridge! From classics like Indiana Jones to newer kids flicks like Kung Fu Panda, it seems as though movie goers love a good rope bridge scene. Perhaps it’s because there always seems to be more drama in this type of scene, or perhaps it because there are always alligators at the bottom of the chasm, who knows.

I’ve noticed a trend over the years though. Christians sometimes look at their relationship with God much like one of these rickety old bridges. They are on one side while heaven is on the other. The bridge they are crossing (which represents their relationship with God) is pretty shoddy. They take each step with care. But the problem is this is a bad view of our relationship with God. The Bible does not paint this tenuous relationship. When we trust Christ as our Savior there is no longer any question about it. We are on solid footing. When we act as though our relationship with God is like and old rotting rope bridge, we don’t live the way were free to through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Don’t believe me? Look up 1 John 2:1-2.

The next time your tempted to be timid, remember all that Christ is doing to keep you on solid ground. Our relationship with God is secure. We don’t have to fear falling from the span of the cross for there are no shoddy boards!

Community Questions:

How many movies can you name that have a rope bridge scene?

What are some signs in your life that you might be treating your relationship with God like an old rope bridge?

Ja, den här kvällen spårade ju en smula. Barnfilmskväll med likör.

• Blev hämtad av Moa för att hyra film -> upptäckte att Systemet var öppet -> stannade till en sväng -> hyrde film & åkte till mig
• Kollade på Bron till Terabitia, blev tankad med körsbärssmakande likör av Moa, våndades över hur knäpp filmen var…
• Tog en promenad, pratade jättelänge med två snälla gubbar och en liten hund som Rifa blev jättelycklig över
• Handlade nudlar på Preem
• Kollade på Kung-Fu Panda och sluddrade
• Försökte sova i 2 timmar
• Misslyckades, blev less
• Åkte till Max (Tacka gud för Drive-in, såg ut som en förrymd patient med jättestor skjorta som stack ut under jackan, hårband och mjukisbyxor)
• Käkade hemma hos mig

Moa har precis åkt hem, jag mår likör-illa och vill i vanlig ordning aldrig mer dricka alkohol. I just can’t hold my liqour. Jag TÅL inte alkohol helt enkelt. Fnissar ett tag, sen mår jag illa i flera timmar och känner mig traumatiserad för livet. Jag förstår inte hur Dessie och Kissie orkar festa och hälla i sig drinkar, häxblandningar, vin… Fy fan alltså, ge mig mjölk istället.

Nu ska jag gå och lägga mig, slökolla på tv och hoppas att jag somnar snart. Godnatt! (Buäää, jag mår illa och är eeensam…. tyck synd om mig.)