"August Rush"

Now this ... was a good movie.

Freddie Highmore's got an allure. That's what I kept thinking throughout this film. His small sweet dimple and his frank toothiness are just about the things that will keep you going when you're slightly sickened by Scottish/Irish warbles by Johanathan Rhys Meyers. Keri Russel on the other hand, is much more tolerable than the guy who actually makes your sweet tooth hurt when he smiles. Really. Too much. I need to gag every time he comes onscreen. And the odd part is, I don't even know why.

The story revolves around a small boy in a children's home who insists that he 'hears music' and can also 'hear his parents' through this music. At the brunt of many a tease and in desperation to find his parents, Evan (Highmore) manages to run away from his shelter and comes to New York where his music carries him to an abandoned theater where musical runaways such as himself manage to make a living under the care and supervision of the the bordering-on-insane street-borne "The Wizard" (Robin Williams) who provides him the realization that he has a gift unlike any other and names him August Rush. Evan's talent also takes him all the way from a church choir ("Raise It Up" - also performed at the Oscars) to Julliard School of Music onto August's Rhapsody in C Minor at Central Park.



The film is cliched and nauseating as it can possibly be when it comes to the romance of Conolley and Novacek, but is as unique and touching when it comes to the story of August Rush who hears beyond the music of instruments and notes.

A work of art with its dramatic and musical connections in the film and a captivating performance by the little boy that could. Bravo. Bravo, indeed.

"Enchanted"

For those of us who got irritated aplenty by Oscar fillers such as "The Happy Working Song" due to the Writer's Strike and refused to digest anything Disney after that, I actually managed to tread where no man ... or Disney-affronted woman, at least ... could go before.


I actually did watch the movie.

Enchanted brings back many memories of old princesses and their happily-ever-afters. A time when you actually wanted to sing long complicated melodies to express happiness. Those were simpler times.

It is a collision of those days of Disney-galore and modern day Manhattan when the evil stepmother bestows the worst fate on our princess in entire Disney history: she sends them to the real world. Where people have lost their faiths in princesses, castles, prince charmings and especially happily-ever-afters.

Enter divorce attorney McDreamy and his adorable young daughter to be rescued from the disillusioned by the slightly disoriented princess from Andalasia where she was to marry her Prince Charming. One thing leads to another and you find her cutting up tapestry to make dresses. The good news is she's not the least bit psychotic, even though everyone thinks it.

Disney had a golden era. It's plain as day that it isn't coming back the way it was, with third generation graphics, CGI-produced brilliances such as Horton Hears a Who, Shrek and Toy Story. It's a different kind of an illusion now. Not with fairy tales maybe, but with a fairy-tale-ish version of how we can recreate the world we're losing faith in.

So the verdict is, that despite it's cheesy melodies and irritatingly insect-filled "Happy Working Song" it still manages to stick to your hums (Alan Menken's gotta be given that credit - not a lot of people can forget classics like Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Hunchback of Notre Dame etc.) and the sweetness of big-eyed Amy Adams can grow on you if you recall the times you wished you were a princess in a land of far far away.

"You Don't Mess With The Zohan"

Although we can only trust Adam Sandler to make fun of religion, society, sexuality, culture and now political situations as that of the Palestenians vs. Israelis, this movie fails to impress me at any level whatsoever. If it was supposed to be funny, I didn't laugh. If it was supposed to be cute, it made me barf. And if it was supposed to be about coexistence, somehow the message at the end of the movie was - you can only do it if you're in New York.


Please save yourself the time and the effort and watch Big Daddy again if you're craving some laughs that bad.

"Made of Honor"

Boring, not-worth-the-time, cliched and has been done over a million times. If you want to watch McDreamy in action, might as well go for "Enchanted".

A Very Pakistani Tag.

Do you love rain:
Hmm. I'd have to concede a yes.

Is it raining:
Yes.

What is the most profound aftermath of it that you see around you:
A car won't stop honking. But to quote the classic Carpenters ... We've only just begun!

Did the electricity get shot as soon as the rain began (stupid question, I know, but humor me. I'm going somewhere with this):
Yes.

How long did the power shortage go on for (see?):
24/48 hours.

Your coping mechanism for all the destruction around you:
Laugh it off. Message everyone insane updates. Cook yummy stuff. Sing.

What you've learnt from monsoon-in-Karachi?
You can't stop it. Might as well enjoy it. Karachi won't be Karachi if it's not made to be loved without the disasters.

All ye who read are tagged.

roflmao.

Once again, Saira provides me a radical dose of laughter on Facebook.

This is a decidedly original comment of hers on a picture that I put up there.

Saira Amin (Pakistan) wrote

at 5:36pm

u look like one of those ghosts they have in the movies jo hero ko khowab main aati hai aur jis ki life ki story per hero research ker raha hota hai..and in the end he falls in love with her hehe i know this sounds funny but bewitching si picture hai.

and dont kill me :P its supposed to be a compliment :P

Out of the blue.

I remember Street Frogs.


Do you?

Whimsical honay main kia hai.

Taken from a highly expensive and currently atop my want-to-buy list camera ... This is Harry.

Okay.

I can post silly things every once in a while too, you know.

Cliched but true.

I don't know what phase of life I'm in to be quoting a Facebook sticker, but this hit.

I've made mistakes n my life.
I've let people take advantage of me,
and I accepted way less than I deserve.
But I've learned from my bad choices and
even though there are some things I can never get back
and people who will never be sorry,
I'll know better next time and
I won't settle for anything less than I deserve.

Hufsa's advice.

Hufsa: You know what you need? A vacation!

Yes, Huffy, I do.

I really, really do.

"Cheeni Kum"

This truly is a sugar-free romance.

The acting is excellent, considering all the experience Indian actors have is in melodrama. To see them portraying serious, realistic, more-human-less-godly characters is a refreshing and lively change.

The story is nothing extraordinary but the dialogs are well-written and well-executed. Most serious movie-watchers have already, I'm sure, given their critical review on this flick. So I guess this post is, rather than a review, a regret that I only say it a year too late.

If you haven't seen it, you should. Avoid the regret. It isn't worth it.

"Pappu Can't Dance Saala"

Hai muscular, hai popular
Spectacular, he's a bachelor.
Pappu ki gari tezz hai,
Pappu kuriyon main craze hai
Pappu ki aankhen light blue,
Pappu dikhta angrez hai!
Rado ki ghari haathon main,
Perfume Gucci walla.

Par Pappu can't dance sala!

Paida Pappu hua toh qismeten chamkeen
Aur uske moon main thi chaandi ki chamchi
Pappu ke paas hai pesa
Haathon ke mail jesa
Pappu yaaron ka yaar hai

Par Pappu can't dance saala
Pappu naach nai sakta!

Paapa kehte hai bara naam karega
Mera Pappu toh aisa kaam karega
Pappu ke paas hai MBA
Karta hai France main holiday
Pappu guitar bajata hai
Jahan jaata hai chaa jata hai!

Par Pappu can't dance saala!

"Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na"

Aamir Khan does it again. Although it's not as thoughtful as Taare Zameen Par and creative as Lagaan, it still is better than regular chick flicks that Bollywood is known to produce. Imran Khan is the only watchable entity in the movie alongside Naseeruddin Shah's depiction of the kingly Rathore. The girls are fairly irritating and the Indian accent angrezi just about reaches my threshold to tolerate a 2.5 hr flick.



In any case, the movie is well-made (comparatively) and is a breath of fresh air, especially with its cute soundtrack (courtesy, the maestro, A. R. Rahman) and a light storyline. If it had been a bit shorter, with prettier girls, I'd say it would have bored me a tad bit lesser than it did.

Sticks and Stones.

This is the 26th day of my fall. I have a new olecranon process of the ulna. Bright, shiny, new - and painful. That's the price of a new bone. You gotta feel the pain.

This little post is to thank all the people who cared and called and messaged and came over and sent me those huggies and kissies and worried about how I'd survive the pain of a broken bone.

Turns out I'd broken my olecranon-process-of-the-ulna in three different places. See the elbow there? It's outta shape, innit? Rugged in its shape. That's because it split into three.


Man. I thought I was a wuss when it came to surviving physiological distress. I'm kinda proud of myself. I even giggled a little (I do that sometimes when I'm in an emotional extreme) much to my mother's frightened disdain. No wonder Dr. Jokhio looked at me with those dagger eyes when I lightly asked him on that first day of the fall, "So do I really need a cast?"

It's freakin broken in three. I'd be mad at me too.

So it's another three weeks of liquefication of the bone and calcification (the brand new x-rays show a decidedly different shade of white where the old elbow was) and whatnot, which means painful exercises and probably a dash of physiotherapy.

Is it weird that I'm strangely blithe?

This means the worst is over. Right?

No matter what.

There will always be that something that will make you smile when you're just about to kill yourself.

And. Change your mind about it all.

From the west of normal.

'Idleness is the parent of all psychology.' - Neitzsche.

You bet it is. I got more psychology pumping up my brain stem than I can manage right now.

Why waiting is difficult.

Because you stare.

And stare. Into that clock that ticks slowly, languidly into another ... second.

Into the colored calendar that moves after twenty four sometimes-waking hours of the day in which there are the sun and the moon acting like five year olds.

Not hurrying up when people want you to.



Or you look into the happiness of those who have bided their time. Paid their dues. Had their share of toil. You stare into what is inches away. In relative terms, moments away. Seconds away. Milliseconds away. Micromilliseconds away.

And there goes the second hand. It's only been one day since the last time you checked the calendar.

Waiting is hard because miniscule moments explode into eternity. It's like a process of reverse fission reaction.

In three days my cast comes off and I get my right hand back. I get to wash my face and scratch my chin without looking like a fool.

In three days I get my self-respect and my elbow back.

When the finish line's got a million dollars waiting for you the last few lunges are more desperate than the ones taken on somewhere in the middle.

But then again.

Maybe it's just me.

This was written for you.

And love is not the easy thing
The only baggage you can bring...
And love is not the easy thing...
The only baggage you can bring
Is all that you can't leave behind

And if the darkness is to keep us apart
And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off
And if your glass heart should crack
And for a second you turn back
Oh no, be strong

Walk on, walk on
What you got, they can't steal it
No they can't even feel it
Walk on, walk on
Stay safe tonight...

You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been
A place that has to be believed to be seen
You could have flown away
A singing bird in an open cage
Who will only fly, only fly for freedom

Walk on, walk on
What you got they can't deny it
Can't sell it or buy it
Walk on, walk on
Stay safe tonight

And I know it aches
And your heart it breaks
And you can only take so much
Walk on, walk on

Home...hard to know what it is if you never had one
Home...I can't say where it is but I know I'm going home
That's where the heart is

I know it aches
How your heart it breaks
And you can only take so much
Walk on, walk on

Leave it behind
You've got to leave it behind
All that you fashion
All that you make
All that you build
All that you break
All that you measure
All that you steal
All this you can leave behind
All that you reason
All that you sense
All that you speak
All you dress up
All that you scheme...

It is what it is.

There aren't enough books or movies or friends or cell phones or music or random events in the WORLD ... to kill this time.

Gravity..

Oh
Gravity is working against me
And gravity wants to bring me down

Oh twice as much aint twice as good
And can't sustain like a one half could
It's wanting more
That's gonna send me to my knees

Oh gravity, stay the hell away from me
And gravity has taken better men than me...