a pound of flesh!

i picked up this movie just on a whim. i had never heard about it before nor had anyone recommended it to me. the very brief story-line on the cover jacket got my attention and i decided to check it out.

and i was glad i did!

if you analyze the film you will find many loop-holes. you would also probably be uncomfortable about some of the moral aspects of the film.

but i would very strongly recommend this movie for all film-lovers. its not a classic or oscar material. but what i liked about the film, apart from the good acting by will smith and rosario dawson, is how the movie keeps you guessing till the very end. and the best part is that you already have an inkling of what is unfolding, but you are still hoping it turns out differently. and that is disturbing. and that is what makes this a very interesting film.

seven pounds is a 2008 film directed by gabriele muccino (who also directed 'in pursuit of happyness'). the film is all about an individual who is reaching out to seven complete strangers and trying to change their lives drastically. and you keep wondering about the motive behind his seemingly bizarre actions. you can clearly see that he is punishing himself very severely and the story slowly unfolds to give you an idea of what's happening. the film has many loose ends which all tie up pretty nicely in the end.

go out and rent the dvd tonight. you will thank me for it! :)

mission junk!!!

most young parents would have read 'what to expect when you are expecting' and some would have even read the ones that follow...

but none of these books tell you about some of the perils of parenting, especially fathering!

take monday as a case in point! i was getting back home by the local train (my preferred mode of commute in mumbai) after a late evening in office when i got an urgent call from the big boss... i was asked to pick up some stuff which could be used as examples of junk food...

now before you wonder why she was so keen on junk food articles let me clarify! we had to send some examples of junk food pasted on a cardboard sheet which our son had to take to school the next morning...

most of the kids' assignments are completed only a 'jit' basis which ensures that we optimise our effort and put in the least time and get the maximum output to input (time) ratio on the projects! :P
and this is nowhere as efficient as some of the other parents who manage to complete it on the day of the submission before packing off the kids and their bags and snack boxes to the school bus... we still have a long way to go! :P

so as part of my clandestine assignment, i had to get off the train a couple of stations before my destination, get into a mc'donald's outlet near the station, order a value meal for myself, eat the 'junk food' instead of dinner... now comes the nest part...

i had to carefully and surreptitiously squirrel away the plastic glass, the plastic and paper containers in which the fries and burgers are served and leave the outlet hoping that none of the other patrons noticed!!!

i managed to breathe easily only after i reached home... i then felt like i had thwarted some major evil operatives and pulled off some major clandestine operation successfully!

"mission junk" completed successfully... ready for the next adventure! :)

girls are smarter!

girls are so much smarter than guys... about certain things... (yeah ok, about the most important things in life... there, can i continue now?)

the big boss and i hired another movie tonight - duplicity (which i will write about later)

my son didn't even pause to look at the cover... i guess that's because it had nothing to do with cricket or football or guitar (his latest favourite musical instrument) or narnia or harry potter or any of those things which would hold his attention for a few seconds...

but our daughter doesn't miss a thing... especially when the picture on the cd cover looks something like this...

she promptly wants me to tell her what the couple is doing... (look closely at the picture of julia roberts and clive owen in the middle... missed it? she didn't!)

i knew that she knew, but that she wanted to hear it from me...

i tried talking about some other things... i don't remember but i must've tried talking about the weather... that didn't work... she listened to me patiently and then asked me again...

i then read out the synopsis of the movie on the back cover... she heard me intently and then asked me again... i realised that i am not getting away...

so i looked closely at the picture and told her that it looks like the man is trying to tell the lady some secret! she promptly curled her lips and said 'nah'... so i asked her if that was not it could she then tell me what they were doing? she said she wanted me to tell her...

i then told her that they were about to kiss... she then grinned and said yuck and went away... i thought i saw a smug look on her face as if she had scored a winning goal or something!!!

i tell you... girls are much smarter than guys about the most important things in life... and my daughter is just 5.5 years old! i'm sure the stories are only going to get more interesting with time! :P