Tweet-size Thoughts – Movies – December 2010

Posted on December 31, 2010 by Nimal

It’s the holiday season. I planned nothing for the Christmas week, as I’ve already had a short break in November with the road trip. So all I did this month, except from going to university most of the days, is watching movies, a lot of movies. Here comes the list with my ‘Tweet-size Thoughts’.

  1. Oy! (2009) Telugu (7.5/10) – A interesting localized storyline (inspiration of Erich Segal’s novel ‘Love Story’) and executed with the excellent performances by the lead actors.
  2. Do Dooni Chaar (2010) Hindi (8/10) – It’s good to see a non-filmy family movie from Bollywood. It a way its refreshing and entertaining too.
  3. Benny And Babloo (2010) Hindi (7.5/10) – A different Bollywood movie, takes a sarcastic look into the Mumbai (night) life.
  4. Chikku Bukku (2010) Tamil Movie (6.5/10) – Felt like watching two movies together. Once watchable.
  5. Butterfly on a Wheel (2007) English (8/10) – Excellent psychological thriller. Can’t guess whats going on until the end.
  6. Golmaal 3 (2010) Hindi (6/10) – Colourful, logic-less, childish laughter for 2 hours 20 minutes. That’s all, once watchable.
  7. Gaayam 2 (2010) Telugu (6.5/10) – Starts in Thailand with blood, continues in India. This interesting sequel, makes an impact through its screenplay and good performances.
  8. Easy A (2010) English (6.5/10) – Typical college comedy with a little different presentation.
  9. The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) English (7.5/10) – One of the interesting biographical movies I have seen lately.
  10. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) English (6.5/10) – A good trade for the time.
  11. Bodyguard (2010) Malayalam (6.5/10) – Good one, wanted to watch this before Kavalan. This is the first Malayalam movie I’ve watched without subtitles.
  12. The Karate Kid (2010) English (6.5/10) – It was good, but still confused why they call a kung fu movie The Karate Kid.
  13. Prasthanam (2010) Telugu (5.5/10) – A really confusing political tail, just about revenge, revenge and revenge, mixed with some dance and romance for no apparent reason.
  14. Passenger (2009) Malayalam (7.5/10) – A simple tale of two passengers told in its simplest form. An excellent movie with good performances by the lead actors. And I watch it without subtitles, so not sure if I got tit correctly.
  15. Phas Gaye Re Obama (2010) Hindi (8/10) – Terrific performances and a brilliant screenplay with the ticklish humour makes this intelligent satire work well throughout.
  16. Kerala Cafe (2009) Malayalam (8/10) – All the ten short films in this anthology film have something interesting. It could be a little overwhelming and tiring, but it’s really a worth watch. Specially liked light sense of humour in Happy Journey and Off-season.
  17. Manmadan Ambu (2010) Tamil (6.5/10) – It’s a good entertainer if watched without any other expectations.
  18. Love Sex Aur Dhokha (2010) Hindi (8.5/10) – Liked it for the making and the theme. The story has three sub-plots that are about the news media turning into cheap entertainment.
  19. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008) English (9/10) – Most of the Holocaust movies over-hype the pro-Jew propaganda, but this one stands out and talks about humanity through the lives of two eight year old boys.
  20. Hotel Rwanda (2004) English (7/10) – I prefer documentaries rather than these movies, but it was a good one. As a person from a land that used to have enough of these, I feel the movie does not portray the massacre effectively.
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Tweet-size Thoughts – Movies – November 2010

Posted on December 1, 2010 by Nimal
  1. Anjaana Anjaani (2010) Hindi (6.5/10)
    Sometimes boring and predictable, still interesting. Entertaining and enjoyable.
  2. Action Replayy (2010) Hindi (6.5/10)
    Just a little funny. Hard to get it right without any subtitles.
  3. Enthiran (2010) Tamil (7/10)
    Not bad for a Bollywood sci-fi. Its not the Rajini movie and not the standard Hollywood sci-fi. So can enjoy when we have an open mind.
  4. Uthama Puthiran (2010) Tamil (6.5/10)
    Fairly manageable first half and a good laughter in the second half.
  5. Va Quatter Cutting (2010) Tamil (6/10)
    Interesting, different, could have been even better.
  6. Vaadaa (2010) Tamil (5.5/10)
    I don’t understand how they afford to make these kinds of movies. Except for some occasional laughter, this could be skipped.
  7. Maryada Ramanna (2010) Telugu (7/10)
    Funny, enjoyable, feel good movie.
  8. Sye Aata (2010) Telugu (4/10)
    One of those typical ‘avenge for a past’ Indian movie, but with a female protagonist. Apart from that nothing is in this movie.
  9. The Social Network (2010) English (8/10)
    Interesting, intense and engaging tale of geeks I admire.
  10. Casino (1995) English (7/10)
    An interesting inside story.
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I forgot my birthday

Posted on November 13, 2010 by Nimal

Oops. This happens to me all the time with my friends. Even there were years when I’ve forgotten my birthday. I remember only a handful of my friends’ birthdays, if not for Facebook (and others services). So I thought I’d see if it’s just my problem or a common problem. It would make me feel less guilty if its common to miss wishing a friend on their birthday. (There is this “other-person-in-me” that feels wishing on birthdays in not necessary, but lets keep that loner out of this post.)

How I avoided the Facebook-effect on my birthday (and felt lonely)?

This “go-secret-mission” started when I set my birthday visibility on Facebook to “Only Me”, so that no one would get any notifications. Then a week ago I disabled my wall and commenting to my posts, to help the ‘secret’ live long. The only way left on Facebook was to send a message. I thought everything is set, but it was not the case.

I have some active friends on Orkut, and I had my birthday displayed there and got few scraps out there. Then there is Skype, which pops up when a contact is having their birthday. This brought in couple of more wishes before I removed my birthday from Skype profile. I also had few automated wishes from MediaWiki, Ubuntu, Tolly Torrents and FlySmiLes, which I don’t mind anyway (Note that I use my real birthday all around online). On Saturday the 13th November, 2010 (of course the timezone differences are bit confusing) I was all set to avoid the “Facebook-effect”.

How the “go-secret-mission” end? Who (else) wished me?

It ended that way that would make me comfortable and happy. I have just above 500 friends on Facebook, which I have kept almost constant for the past two years. (Obviously 500 is little too much for a loner like me). Everyone would agree its normal to get around 100 wall posts on your birthday when you have 500 friends on Facebook. I got about 10. Also there were few more on Orkut and via Skype, Google Chat and SMS. All would round-up to about 25.

Offline; I don’t really exist as an acceptable social animal offline, and I never expect anyone to wish me (I would be rather surprised). Got calls from “appa”, “amma” and my sis, and also from some close family and a good friend. So it was as normal as always.

So…?

I believe that the era of greeting cards and birthday diaries is long gone. Even the days of phone calls and the phone books are past. The natural change of time has brought us all to the Facebook era (or any name you would like to call it) and we all learn to live along with it. So lets share our birthdays with friends online, otherwise you might feel lonely as I did today (specially if you are a loner like me).

Friends, sorry for doing this stupid “go-secret-mission” to celebrate my birthday. I didn’t mean to be offensive to anyone in any sense. I rather wanted to reflect on how things are with me, and I’m happy that I’m “normal” in some sense or the other. Cheers…!

[Update] How I missed the global effect?

I published this post on November 13th, 2010 at 23:59 Brisbane Time. I also posted updates to Twitter and Facebook. I wanted to post it at the end of the day, but it was still November 13th in half the world, and in some places they were in the early day. This is what the timezone confusions I mentioned above, but forgot that before publishing. We are truly living in a global society.

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Movies I watched – October 2010

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Nimal

I had two submissions deadlines, one presentation and some more not so interesting but have to do tasks this month. Almost everything went well, but whats most interesting to me is I managed to watch 25 movies (plus another few) in November. I don’t think it was a waste of time, rather I feel this kept me going. So here goes the list.

  1. Gandhi (1982) English (9.5/10)
    Classic.
  2. Eclipse (2010) English (6/10)
    For a non Twilight fan, it’s just another fairly interesting movie.
  3. Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (2009) Hindi (5.5/10)
    Fairly interesting, but irritating too.
  4. De Dana Dan (2009) Hindi (6/10)
    Comedy overdose, but enjoyable.
  5. Wanted (2009) Hindi (6.5/10)
    A remake (of Pokiri or Pokkiri), made right.
  6. Dabangg (2010) Hindi (7.5/10)
    Is it a serious spoof film? Enjoyed…! Feels like a Tamil/Telugu masala made in Hindi.
  7. My Name Is Khan (2010) Hindi (8.5/10)
    One of the strong films I have seen recently. Handles a very sensitive issue very well. Though the end might be little too dramatic, it’s indeed a wonderful movie as a whole.
  8. Udaan (2010) Hindi (9/10)
    This is not a normal Bollywood flick. An intense story narrated interestingly. A must watch.
  9. Love Aaj Kal (2009) Hindi (7/10)
    Love now and then. A pure love story.
  10. HouseFull (2010) Hindi (6.5/10)
    It is a remake of the Tami flick Kaathala Kaathala. The same story with a slightly different screenplay and some variations in some characters. It’s a good remake.
  11. Wake Up Sid (2009) Hindi (6.5/10)
    An interesting entertainer.
  12. Pyaar Impossible (2010) Hindi (5.5/10)
    Just barely interesting or entertaining. Rather an expensive mistake.
  13. Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) Hindi (7/10)
    Good emotional musical drama.
  14. Chance Pe Dance (2010) Hindi (7/10)
    Good one, enjoyed.
  15. Milenge Milenge (2010) Hindi (5/10)
    Couldn’t sit through without excessive scrubbing. Reminded me of some old Tamil film.
  16. Varudu (2010) Telugu (4.5/10)
    Boring dialog filled stage drama of 60′s presented with some sloppy CG.
  17. Leader (2010) Telugu (7.5/10)
    An interesting Telugu film by Sekhar Kammula. It’s a lot like a Shankar film in the lines of Mudhalvan and Sivaji, yet nice.
  18. Maska (2009) Telugu (6/10)
    Interesting Entertainer.
  19. Rama Rama Krishna Krishna (2010) Telugu (7/10)
    Same old story, but not a bad presentation. Just another time-pass entertainer.
  20. Parugu (2008) Telugu (7/10)
    Simple storyline and a little dragging screenplay. Director Baskar deals with the same farther sentiment as in Bommelillu, but this time father-daughter. Comparatively less interesting, yet watched till the end.
  21. Darling (2010) Telugu (6/10)
    Just the second half is enough for the movie.
  22. Inkosari (2010) Telugu (5.5/10)
    A simple but good story spoiled with a bad screenplay and an even worse making.
  23. Ritu (2009) Malayalam (8/10)
    A movie on love, hatred, betrayal and intense emotions.
  24. Bale Pandiya (2010) Tamil (7/10)
    A Good Laugh.
  25. Inidhu Inidhu (2010) Tamil (7.5/10)
    Brings the same feel as Telugu ‘Happy Days‘.
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Access to Clean Water – A Human Right

Posted on October 15, 2010 by Nimal

Nearly 1 billion people lack access to clean water, which causes a series of problems, diseases and even death.


Blog Action Day 2010: Water from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

In July 2010, the United Nations declared access to clean water and sanitation a human right over objection from the United States. Today, nearly one billion people lack basic access to safe drinking water.

While the developing world faces a water crisis, those in industrialized countries consume far more than their fair share. The disregard for water resources in industrialized countries impacts more than humans – it causes environmental devastation. The good news is that there are great organizations working on solutions and new tools that empower people to do their part to address the water crisis. Check out Water.org and charity: water for more.

Access to clean water is not just a human rights issue. It’s an environmental issue. An animal welfare issue. A sustainability issue. Water is a global issue, and it affects all of us.

(This post is part of Blog Action Day 2010)

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