Alfred Hitchcock and Music..

I had been revisiting all of Hitchcock's classics last couple weeks. Most of his creations still remain masterpieces till date (Rebecca, North by North West, The Lady Vanishes etc.), but I have to admit a handful of his movies are badly dated. '39 Steps', 'Spellbound', 'Shadow of a doubt' feels like a drag these days. The British style of acting (A flat tone of delivery and sometimes almost shouting) is also a big put off. It is remarkable how the actors deliver their dialogues in a nonchalant way when the situation according to the script is pretty intense.

Anyway, a common thread that I have observed in all these movies is that of a 'Particular tune' playing a major part in the storyline. In 'The man who knew too much', the tune of 'Que Sera sera' brings out the little boy out of the confinement to his mother; In 'The Lady Vanishes', a tune is actually a espionage code; In 'Shadow of a doubt', the tune 'Merry widow' is actually a clue and in '39 Steps', a tune reminds the hero about the presence of the villain in the opera.

Tough Times ! :(

In a soup :( 

Ted & Robin

***SPOILERS***

Just watched the season finale and the last episode of 'How I met your mother'. Must admit, a very abrupt ending and shocking indeed. Funny thing is, I have always wanted Robin to end up with Ted. All my friends used to say 'No, Barney and Robin are perfect!' and I used to reply 'C'mon he stole a blue french horn for her!'. In 1st season, they possibly had the most romantic episodes of any series in TV. When Barney started dating Robin, possibly in the 5th season, it was very odd at first, but then they were good together too.

Barney fans must be inconsolable, the character did not get justice at the end. When they finally ended the show with Ted and Robin getting back together, it was bittersweet.

I started watching it way back in 2009. It's been a long journey. A lot of things have happened.
I changed jobs, moved cities, started my MBA, but kept watching the series. Even in later seasons, they sporadically came up with good episodes, 'The PS I live you-Canadian pop star episode', 'The 9th season rhyme episode'...

Goodbye HIMYM..You've been a good friend..

Daniela Andrade

I will remember today as the day I discovered Daniela Andrade...
I have never listened to such hauntingly beautiful rendition of 'La vi en rose'...

https://soundcloud.com/danielasings

Steven Moffat's Coupling

I was obsessed with 'F.R.I.E.N.D.S' during my engineering years. Religiously followed the show in Zee Cafe from 2004 to 2008. Though it got over in US at 2004, the episodes were shown in India only at 2007-2008. Even when I was in Infosys, Mysore getting my arse handed over to me in grueling training, I did not quit watching it.

But then I stopped and moved on to other sitcoms 'That 70's show', 'Two and a half men' and finally landed on 'Coupling'. 'Coupling' was the best thing I had ever seen. I watched the episodes over and over again and remembered all the jokes by heart. Jeff Murdock was the funniest thing on TV. I shamelessly lobbied for 'Coupling' in every 'Which is the funniest sitcom' debate and rated it over 'FRIENDS'.


Recently I have started watching the 'FRIENDS" episodes again and I have to admit a lot of the stuff were copied in 'Coupling'..

"Chandler's breakup with Janice"  - "Steve's breakup with Jane"
"Chandler could not talk to Jill Goodacre" - "Jeff could not talk to the Israeli girl"
"Chandler-Joey" - "Steve - Jeff"
"Chandler accidentally sees Rachel naked" - " Steve accidentally sees Sally naked".

This is a recurring theme in Steven Moffat's creations. He does not seem to be good with originals. But he does exemplary jobs in reviving old stuff 'Sherlock', 'Doctor Who', 'Jekyll'...

My Guilty Pleasure Movies

Everyone has his/her own safe place, where they can go to when they are hurt, ecstatic or nostalgic. I have some memories (good and bad) which I associate with few movies and I watch them over and over again in weekends and times when I feel lost..

Most of them are not classics, obviously far from them. They are my guilty pleasure movies, as I cannot explain why I like them other than saying ‘Well, I just like them’..

10. Wolfman-  The 2010 film has stellar performance from Benecio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins. The movie kind of transports you to the 19^th century England. If you are a fan of Agatha Christie or ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ like books, this is a perfect movie for you to spend a lonely winter evening with a bottle of scotch for company. Emily Blunt looked so vulnerable yet gorgeous in this.

9. Purana Mandir- This is the most personal entry in the list. I have watched this movie over and over but still seem to like it more every time. Sometimes I wish life were a Ramsay Bros’ movie! How much I would have lived more if I had defeated a monster! Everything would look rosier in comparison.

8. Bhooter Bhobisyat- One of the very few Bengali movies I have loved over past few years. The witty lines! The sing-song dialogues!

7. Chandramookhi- I had watched this movie long back with all my cousins during a get together in a wedding ceremony. We had so much fun watching it that whenever I still watch it , it reminds of all the mirthful times. Sridevi looked a million dollars in the movie. Salman looked so much fun in his youth that it’s hard to relate this fun avatar with the zombie that he has become.
If Disney had made a movie in Hindi, it would have been this. Curiously the director Debaloy Dey vanished into oblivion after just one movie.

6. Shaapit- Vikram Bhatt at his best :). I honestly enjoyed the movie and found few scenes riveting. Everyone else seems to bash this movie.

5. Jab we Met- A romance that will win over the most stone cold cynics. Whenever I watch this movie I am transported back to my 2007 self. I also met the real life ‘Geet’ once, but I let her go!
I used to watch scenes from this movie during my training in Infosys, Mysore.

4. Dil Chahta hai- What can I say about this movie that has not already been said. The one scene where Aakash tries to call Sameer but calls Siddharth instead and subsequently breaks down is out of this world.

3. Splash- One of the heartwarming love stories of early nineties where a mermaid comes to town! Daryl Hannah looked so innocent in this that I had to double check in Wiki to make sure that she is also ‘Elle driver’ in ‘Kill Bill’.

2. Eurotrip- I watched this movie during the early days of my stint in Hyderabad. My new found hedonism due to my financial independence bonded well with the mood of this movie. I watched this on a Friday night after a hectic week on a ‘5-in-1’ pirated DVD \m/ Mad Maynard

1. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge- The charm of this movie lies in the fact that both the protagonists looked and behaved like the boy or girl next door. But have we not all have been in love with the girl next door some time in our life. The one scene I liked most is where Simran asks Raj if he is coming to her wedding and he says with a smile that he is not.

DDLJ was made in heaven.

Giallo

What do you want to see in a horror movie? If you are thrilled by a macabre atmosphere that runs a chill down your spine then you may prefer 'Rebecca'(Dir: Alfred Hitchcock) or 'The Shining'(Dir:Stanley Kubrik), if you want gore and torture then Tarantino and Rob Zombie is there for you. For slasher flicks there are 'Jason','Freddie' and 'Leatherface'.

But do you want to see a suspense thriller about a serial killer? or haunted houses that hide gateways to hell? do you feel there should atleast be a demon in the whole movie to scare you, then read on...


'Giallo'(Italian for yellow), is a genre of horror movies and literature that are characterized by pulp fictionesque gore stories of low production values nevertheless entertaining. As a fan of horror movies, I have explored all sorts of genre among  horror movies I could find, but have been in love with this particular type since I watched Dario Argento's 'Suspiria'.I have been obsessively watching 'Giallo' movies for the past few months and have unearthed quite a few gems that can surprise true spook afficionados.

The biggest name in 'Giallo' genre is definitely 'Dario Argento' who infact made a movie titled 'Giallo'(*ing Adrian Brody, Argento's last movie as director).But prior to him the maestro who first made the type famous and commercially successful was Mario Bava.

Mario Bava's 'Black Sunday'(Orig italian title 'Mask du Demon', why it was called 'Black sunday' in english is a mystery :( ) is a classic.Story of a witch coming back from her grave to put a horrible mask(an ancient torture device) on her present day lookalike. Barbara Steele was breathtakingly beautiful as both witch and the princess.Shot in black and white ,this movie is one of Mario's finest work.

Other than the above, Mario was brilliant as a director in Edgar Alan Poe's 'Pit and the Pendulum'(Barbara Steele and Vincent Price).Sadly this movie has a very less role for barbara. As a ghost of a dead wife of a rich spanish lord she mesmerizes viewers with her looks. in the final scene where she turns out to be a conspirator and gets locked down in an iron maiden is riveting.

Mario Bava's 'Black Sabbath' , considered by many as best among his works had three stories(last two were terrific specially 'The drop of water')and THE 'Boris Karloff' as 'Sutradhar'.I dont think there is any english version of this movie, you have to rely on subtitles.

Sadly some of Mario Bava's other works 'Blood and the Black lace','Hercules in the haunted world' were terribly disappointing.

The second king of horror is 'Dario Argento'. His best work 'Suspiria' remains the cult movie, poster of 'Giallo' till date. A young woman arrives in Munich to join a music academy. The students in the academy experience strange spooky encounters and discover a tomb of a witch in the basement. Haunting BGM and cheesy scares and a classic scene where the dog rips the throat of a blind musician, this movie is the 'Sholay' of 'Giallo' genre :) .

Argento produced several other classics 'Deep Red' (Profondo rosso),'Inferno', 'Tenebrae' (Italin for 'murder', one of my Argento favorites, the twist is predictable but interesting) and 'Phenomena'(Jennifer Connelly is brilliant as 15yr old insect loving Jennifer Corvino).

In his later days Argento actually urged Mario Bava's son Lamberto Bava to direct several of his films 'Demons','Demons2', 'The Church' (La Chiesa a.k.a Demons 3, probably Jr.Bava's best work, and certainly better than Demons1 & 2).

Argento's last work was Giallo(2009) which was a horrible horrible disaster.Its so bad that its hard to sit through it :( . As somebody put it up in IMDB message board "Dario, for god's sake ! please stop".
Its hard to believe the man who gave us 'The bird with the crystal plumage' and 'Cat o'nine tales' is making 'Sleepless'(2001).

Other notable mentions in 'Giallo' are Lucio Fulci("The beyond") and Sergio Martino("Torso")...

To be contd...

/* Published this longtime back in 2010 in 'InfyBlogs' :D */