Murder on the Orient Express

I have been feeling like a movie critic already. :-) Saw this movie adaptation of the Agatha Christie book. Few of the cast members that I could recognize were Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Perkins (he is responsible for the pain caused by soapy water getting into my eyes. Just couldn't close my eyes while taking bath for a few days after watching his Psycho!).

This story got its inspiration from the incident of the Orient Express getting stuck in the snow for 5 days a few miles off Istanbul. At the time this movie was made the train was already out of operation and the shooting was completed using the coaches kept in museums.

This was also the only movie adaptation done while Agatha Christie was alive. She attended the premiere and liked the movie.

I enjoyed the movie even though I knew "who-dun-it". :-) But I didn't like Albert Finney who played Hercule Poirot - Christie's Belgian detective with an egg-shaped head who always gets annoyed on being called a Frenchman.

I think David Suchet fitted Poirot's description from Christie's books to a T - or should I say to a P!

Teri movie bhool-bhulaiya

Really feel like singing this to Priya Darshan! I continued doing "parallel processing" while watching Chak De but dropped all my work and sat glued to the screen to watch this film - because I have liked all earlier PriyaDarshan movies. However, disappointment was just around the corner waiting to hit me after intermission!

I liked the way the movie began and progressed. Maybe it was because I have read "Twisted" recently I realized who could be doing it all. But I kept on hoping that the twist would be something else. I went on hoping even after my hunch was proved right.

I think the movie drags on painfully after the culprit is revealed. Priyadarshan sounds confused about whether this is a comedy movie, a psychological thriller or an out-and-out ghost story. I had lost all interest in the movie when it finally concluded.

The songs appear as if they were added as an after-thought - however I liked most of them - right from "Teri aankhen bhool bhulaiya" and "labon ko labon se" to "Allah Haafiz".

Must say that Akshay Kumar was a surprise package of the movie for me! He alternates between being funny and being serious with ease. And his comic timing is just too good! Shiny Ahuja doesn't have much to do except for running through the vast rooms of the palace every time someone screams. Amisha Patel looks cute but acts as dumb as her debut movie "Kaho na pyaar hai". Vidya Balan looks positively frightening in her "Monjulika" awatar. I will shudder every time I see a roshogulla now :-) I wonder if Vikram Gokhale himself has a clue as to what he was doing at the end of this movie :-)

Finally, I wonder which palace was this film shot at. The place looks simply awesome! At times like this I regret not having the kings and princes around anymore in India. :-(

Watching Chak De

I will be definitely termed as a "Laggard" if the Rogers model for adoption and diffusions of innovations is applied to movie-watching. :-) I watched Chak De India and Bhool Bhulaiya long after the rest of the Indians watched these movies, criticized/appreciated and forgot about them.

First about Chak De. I can't say I watched the movie in its entirety. I haven't still been able to make myself tolerate Shahrukh on screen for long. So I watched it in bits and pieces while I continued finishing up some pending work at home.

But I was in for a pleasant surprise. Shahrukh wasn't Shahrukh "King" Khan in this movie - he was Kabeer Khan. :-))

The scene I loved most was the one where the girls teach a lesson to some eve-teasing idiots at McDonald's. :-) I dropped what I was doing and clapped - much to the amusement of the rest of the family :-)

And of course the scene of the Indian team winning the Championship! I kept on telling myself that it's only a movie, that we are miles away from it happening in reality.

But there is something in that saffron-white-green flag with the Ashoka Chakra in the middle that fills me up with a lot of hope,pride and confidence - we will do it one day India!

Twisted

Nope....I am not referring to my present frame of mind :-) This is a book by Jeffery Deaver that I just finished reading. It's a collection of short stories with a twist in the end.... much like Jeffery Archer's "Twist in the tale".

First, the stories that I liked and couldn't see the twist for:

For services rendered
Beautiful
Triangle
Nocturne
The Christmas present

Just loved the way the murdered is nailed in "Lesser Included offense" :-)

But I guess after a few stories you kind of start to figure out the possible twists as you go on reading a story. That happened with me for the rest of them.

The book made a delightful reading nevertheless!

Time for New Year resolutions

It's that time of the year again - time for making resolutions. And I have a whole laundry list of them:

- Laugh a lot

- Stick to regular exercise

- Keep in touch with friends

- Keep up reading good books

- Start learning a foreign language

- Tour at least one foreign country

And most important of all.....

Keep writing this blog!

2007 - hope you have many more wonderful moments in store for me in your last month. :-)

2008 - Looking forward to meeting you.........:-)

Wishes wishes everywhere.....

"Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen." – Benjamin Disraeli

The Great wall of China.....

The Valley of Flowers.....

The “Red Rose” City of Petra.....

The tigers at Ranthambore.....

Chichen Itza of the Mayans.....

The sand dunes of Jaisalmer....

The Ruins of Machu Picchu.....

The monasteries at Leh-Ladakh.....

The Colosseum at Rome.....

The shikaras in Kashmir.....

Mount Fuji.....

Cruise on Nile.....

The Pyramids of Giza.....

The Land of Midnight Sun.....

Hazaro khwaaishe aisi ki har khwaaish pe dam nikale.....

The Coffin Dancer

Intriguing title, isn't it? But I have suffered in the past because of some "Intriguing Titles" of not-so-intriguing books. So I decided to check out the back cover. I read about the words "detective Lincoln Rhyme" but it didn't ring a bell. Then the words "Amelia", "Protege" and "Quadriplegic" brought back image of Angelina Jolie running to stop a subway train....The Bone Collector!

Sure enough.....this book is by the same author "Jeffery Deaver". And I finished it in 2 days flat - just loved it! Now I hope the library has more books by the same author. :-)