After a long time now, I'm finding myself writing a non-Indian review again - only the second published on this blog. Many things are changing in my life at the moment, mostly mental things. I stopped learning Arabic, and I don't feel the urge to learn new languages (except French at school) anymore.
I don't feel like watching Indian films, I'm tired of a lot of films that wasted my time.
Hence I felt I needed to review a film that meant a lot to me and has had a great influence on my thoughts for the past few days.
In all my past reviews, I had a small section saying who the director, the authors and the actors were, and a short sentence about the plot. You won't be seeing that again. As I said, my mentality or however you may call it, is changing more than usually at the time, and I have also, in addition to many other things, thought about Lime Reviews. So this is one of the alterations I've made.
I'm pretty stressed out at the moment because of various... things... but that's not what I wanted to tell you. There it is: this week is what I (very creatively) call the "how-i-met-your-mother-week", so I haven't watched anything but HIMYM. The new season will be released on September 19 and I need to have finished watching the last two seasons until then. I can already tell you: it's fun! It's fun to watch a series all day long (except when you're stressed out there is no "all day long", but...). You don't have to think a lot (doesn't mean HIMYM isn't intelligent, though), you can just relax and be... be a series-fanatic instead of a film-fanatic.
However, I'll be making an exception today and go watch The Tree of Life in the theatre, one of my most anticipated films this year.
Speaking of theatre - what's coming up in India for tomorrow?
Chitkabrey - Shades of Grey Director: Suneet Arora (debuting - though he looks rather old!)
Muhahahha... what's going here?
Are they even allowed to call that a film and not a over-lenghth soap-opera episode?
The actors are the worst I've ever seen, the effects, editing and direction (of the trailer) is the worst I've ever seen... and the story? A very bad copy of Saw, I believe.
Also looks a bit like Game, just with a strong note of B-film.
Even the poster looks embarrassing. Ugh.
Verdict: Rather-do-not watch (but then again... it might be fun)
One of my fellow film bloggers Maria Sofia from FILMflare nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award, and Maria I want to thank you so much! It's wonderful how nice and kind everyone in the blogosphere is, this being my second blogger award already. So once again: thank you (or: Vielen Dank, as the name of the award is German, and I'm German too).
The rules of this award are: you have to link back the person who nominated you and thank her/him as much as you can. After that, you nominate 3-5 of your favorite blogs, who must have less than 300 followers (which isn't hard to find). Just like Maria Sofia, I want to tell you that if you've been nominated by me, you don't have to do a post like this and give the award on to other blogs.
I know that it's Saturday, but this first week of school was quite stressful, so I had no time at all to write this.
There was also some complication with my DVD-order, so I don't have any 2011-Bollywood-DVDs yet, and I also don't have any money (almost). It's just enough to go to the indie-cinema about once a week for 3€, which means I'll be watching "The Tree of Life" next week, but I'll still have to wait for "Super 8" and "Planet of The Apes". Anyways, I have a lot of other DVDs to watch.
It's nice to really be back again, I always love writing this feature.
Ram Gopal Varma is Bollywoods go-to man if you want to chock the whole industry/ country. He has his very own film-making style, and he has both failed greatly and succeeded greatly with his films.
I dare say we can expect something new and chocking from his latest film.
Mahie Gill has already left a quite good impression on me in "Dev.D", and I'm eager to see, whether she can live up to the expectations I have.
The male lead is a newcomer, and I'm also interested in watching how good he is, but it's also important that this is a female-centered film. At least I hope so.
"Not A Love Story" is one of the films to keep an eye on...
You all know the IIFAs, the Filmfare Awards the Zee Cine Awards and all those other corrupt awarding ceremonies in Bollywood (yes, Bollywood is the right expression here).
But I doubt that many people have ever heard of the ISHQ Awards, have you? The ACEBAs (Annual Central European Bollywood Awards), however, are a little more famous, even having a real awarding ceremony with real people this year.
Explaining: The "ISHQ Awards"
The "ISHQ" is the most-read Bollywood magazine in Middle Europe, and if I'm allowed to give a little subjective comment: the best Bollywood magazine I know, especially in Germany. It is German, high quality and couldn't live without it.
The first ISHQ was published in november 2006, I believe, and instantly gained much success in the German fan community. By then, there were no other German Bollywood magazines. There are some others now, maybe one or two, but they can't compare to the ISHQ, in my opinion.
Last year, the ISHQ editors decided to put up the ISHQ Awards, where readers and editors could vote for their favorite films, actors, actresses etc. of the year that passed. They decided to keep the project going this year. Sadly, I wasn't able to vote myself - I missed the deadline.
Well, that's no reason for not commenting the results...
Read more about the magazine: http://www.ishq.de/(only German)
The results were published in magazine #48, August 2011.
Explaining: The "Annual Central European Bollywood Awards"
The ACEBAs are the most important Bollywood Awards in Europe, founded by Marco, the host of the largest German (the language, not the country) Bollywood forum, http://bollywoodforum.ch/, and owner of the review site http://molodezhnaja.ch. The awards have existed since 2004, and have improved a lot over the years. The voting is held online, and there's just one vote for everyone. There's also no fixed amount of nominees - it depends on how many films, performances, songs etc. are good enough to be nominated, which also means that sometimes, a whole category drops out for one year.
This year, the awards are presented by not only molodezhnaja, but also BNA Germany and IFFI Goa.
The results are listed chronologically - most votes is 1), least votes is the last.
BEST FILM
(The ISHQ has a lot of nominees but only 10 "winners", from which only one is the true winner, off course, and furthermore they've divided this section into "Reader's choice" and "Editors' choice").
ISHQ Reader's choice:
1) My Name Is Khan
2) We Are Family
3) 3 Idiots
4) Kites
5) Guzaarish
6) I Hate Luv Storys
7) Band Baaja Baaraat
8) Anjaana Anjaani
9) Dabangg
10) Ishqiya/ Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai
only nominated:
Break Ke Baad - Action Replayy - Baava - Aisha - Do Dooni Char - Badmaash Company - The Japanese Wife - Jhootha Hi Sahi - Love, Sex aur Dhokha - Knock Out - Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey - Karthik Calling Karthik - Peepli Live - Phas Gaye Re Obama - Raavan/ Raavanan - Rakht Charitra 1 & 2 - Enthiran - Striker - Tere Bin Laden - Tees Maar Khan - Thanks Maa - Udaan - Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa - Well Done Abba
A very typical result, and just what I had expected from most of the German readers/ viewers. I had hoped for better, though. MNIK on the first place is acceptable, as I personally liked it a lot as well, but honestly, We Are Family on the SECOND place??? Kites, Guzaarish, Anjaana Anjaani - I can find a more suited winner for all of them in the nominee's row. A problem is that probably many readers just haven't seen many of the films that were nominated. Which is sad, I think. I do like that there's a good variety in the nominees: some southies, too, some blockbuster, some flops, some main stream, some parallel cinema. Sadly, no big variety in the results. Maybe the editors know better?
ISHQ Editors' choice (only 5 wins):
1) My Name Is Khan
2) 3 Idiots
3) Udaan
4) Raavan/ Raavanan
5) Ishqiya
Now this I like. A piece of everything. Not sure if I would've picked Ishqiya, but then again: it might not be the best film, but it's an incredibly important film, especially for the future of women in Bollywood. Good job, ISHQ editors!
ACEBAs:
1) My Name Is Khan
2) Dabangg
3) Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai
4) Raajneeti
5) Udaan
6) Peepli [Live]
7) Ishqiya
8) Raavan
9) Aakrosh
10) Rann
Again, the usual suspects: Shah Rukh and Karan Johar. That's what works here in Germany. 74,49 % - that's almost 10 times as much as Dabangg got. Good I mentioned it already: Dabangg? Dabangg? Admittedly a more suited winner than WTF, I mean WAF, but still... I am, however, fully contented with the rest of the results. My personal vote was for Udaan... Maybe not the best of last year, but still one of the best, and I wanted to vote for one of the more unknown films.
BEST DIRECTOR
ISHQ:
1) Karan Johar: My Name Is Khan
2) Rajkumar Hirani: 3 Idiots (editors' choice)
3) Vikramaditya Motwane: Udaan
4) Abhishek Chaubey: Ishqiya
5) Habib Faisal: Do Dooni Char
Good choices, I would stick with the 3 Idiots - Karan Johar didn't really impress me. I just liked the film.
ACEBAs:
1) Karan Johar: My Name Is Khan
2) Sanjay Leela Bhansali: Guzaarish
3) Vikramaditya Motwane: Udaan
4) Mani Ratnam: Raavan
5) Anusha Riza: Peepli [Live]
6) Ram Gopal Verma: Rann
... ... Is there anything left to say? "Karan Johar, so boring, bla bla", "SLB, who set a high personal standard with Devdas and also a little with Black, and who since then has failed to impress me with his later works, even though Guzaarish is a tiny step towards a better filmic tomorrow of his - he is nominated???"... You know what I have to say. I don't have to write it. I voted for Motwane, he's made one of the most impressing debuts I've seen. Mani Ratnam is my favorite director. I loved Peepli Live. ... Ah, just remembered that a copy of Rann must be laying around somewhere...
BEST SCREENPLAY [only ACEBAs]
1) Raajneeti
2) Peepli [Live]
3) Ishqiya
4) Karthik Calling Karthik
5) Udaan
6) Well Done Abba
I wonder why the ISHQ doesn't honor the technicians, even thought they tend to write the Bollywood awards don't honor them enough... But then again, it's a young award, it can still improve. Though I'd rather honor the technicians than some "love scene". But whatever. Raajneeti is a deserving winner, and all the others are deserving nominees.
BEST ACTRESS
(Yes, Ladies first - my choice).
ISHQ:
1) Kajol: My Name Is Khan (also editors' choice)
2) Vidya Balan: Ishqiya
3) Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan: Raavan/ Raavanan
4) Anushka Sharma: Band Baaja Baaraat
5) Deepika Padukone: Break Ke Baad
While I think that Kajol delivered a good performance in MNIK, I don't think anyone (including her) can compare to Vidya Balan in Ishqiya. Kajol's role wasn't as layered and deep as Vidya's, so in my opinion, she didn't even have the chance to be better than Vidya.
By the way: Deepika? Really? I didn't watch BKB, and I have good reasons.
ACEBAs:
1) Kajol: My Name Is Khan
2) Anushka Sharma: Band Baaja Baaraat
3) Vidya Balan: Ishqiya
4) Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan: Guzaarish
5) Kangna Ranaut: Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai
6) Minissha Lamba: Well Done Abba
Remarkably, Kajol won with only 62,05 % (!). But Vidya is and will always be the best actress of 2010. Dot. Nice that Anushka came second, though... But Aishwarya for Guzaarish? She was much better in Raavan... don't you think? Well Done Abba is one of the few 2010-ers I'm yet too watch, by the way.
BEST ACTOR
ISHQ:
1) Shah Rukh Khan: My Name Is Khan (also editors' choice)
2) Hrithik Roshan: Guzaarish
3) Aamir Khan: 3 Idiots
4) Boman Irani: Well Done Abba
5) Rishi Kapoor: Do Dooni Char
Suck... I didn't expect this to be a genuine MNIK show... But what else should I have expected? And the year didn't really well over by overwhelming male performances... Maybe I would've picked SRK as well, I mean he was good.
ACEBAs:
1) Shah Rukh Khan: My Name Is Khan
2) Salman Khan: Dabangg
3) Hrithik Roshan: Guzaarish
4) Ajay Devgn: Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai
5) Boman Irani: Well Done Abba
6) Paresh Rawal: Road to Sangam
The winner is Shah Rukh? Really? Oh my Gosh, that came so unexpected! That's all I have to say.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR [only ACEBAs]
1) Arjun Rampal: Raajneeti
2) Arshad Warsi: Ishqiya
3) Nana Patekar: Raajneeti
4) Ronit Roy: Udaan
5) Paresh Rawal: Aakrosh
6) Randeep Hoda: Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai
Woooohooo! This feels like a personal win - the nominee I voted for won! Ah... magical. In contrary to the main actors, it was easy to find good supporting performances in the cinematic archives of 2010. And in my opinion, Arjun Rampal's was the best one.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS [only ACEBAs]
1) Kareena Kapoor: We Are Family
2) Sonakshi Sinha: Dabangg
3) Bipasha Basu: Aakrosh
4) Amrita Puri: Aisha
5) Dimple Kapadia: Dabangg
6) Ira Dubey: Aisha
If there's one good thing about WAF, it's Kareena. She didn't save the film for me, but she was my personal highlight, a flash of cinemagity in the dullness of a kitschy-bitchy "children's drama/comedy/wtf". That's why she deserves this award.
BEST SOUNDTRACK
ISHQ:
1) Vishal-Shekhar: Anjaana Anjaani(btw: An Education-poster, anyone?)
Thanks for reminding me: Why wasn't BBB nominated in the ISHQ awards? Meh. There was music in OUATIM? No Raavan in the ACEBAs? Well, I kinda can't get no satisfaction regarding the music awards of both the award-thingies.
BEST SONG [only ACEBAs]
1) Pee Loon: Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai
2) Munni Badnaam Hui: Dabangg
3) Pe Pe Pepein: Chance Pe Dance
4) Tere Liye: Prince
5) Wallah Re Wallah: Tees Maar Khan
6) Chal Halke Halke: A Flat
Sorry for the latter comment, now I remember at least one song from OUATIM. Beautiful song. But the true winner is "Beera" from Raavan, can't believe it wasn't nominated. Don't remember any of the others except for "Munni". Good choreography, not the best musical work.
BEST SINGER - MALE [only ACEBAs]
1) Mohit Chauhan - Pee Loon - Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai
2) Rahat Fateh Ali Khan - Dil To Bachcha Hai - Ishqiya
3) Rahat Fateh Ali Khan - Aas Paas Khuda - Anjaana Anjaani
I'm listening to "Pee Loon" at this moment, and I must say it's much better than I had remembered. Definitely worth a best singer award for Mohit Chauhan.
BEST SINGER - FEMALE [only ACEBAs]
1) Sunidhi Chauhan - Udi Udi - Guzaarish
2) Bela Shende - Sun Le Dua Yeh Aasmaan - We Are Family
3) Mamta Sharma - Munni Badnaam Hui - Dabangg
4) Alyssa Mendonsa - Uff Teri Ada - Karthik Calling Karthik
5) Rekha Bhardwaj - Badi Dheere Jali – Ishqiya
6) Reena Bhardwaj - Khili Re - Raavan
Sunidhi Chauhan would've been my second choice, but Reena Bhardwaj convinced me the most. How sad that she's last in the row...
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
ISHQ:
1) "Dum Dum": Band Baaja Baaraat
2) "Zoobi Doobi": 3 Idiots (editors' choice)
3) "Sheila Ki Jawani": Tees Maar Khan
4) "Munni Badnaam": Dabangg
5) "Chhan Ke Mohalla: Action Replayy
One of the results that I almost completely agree with. The ISHQ Awards 2011 included 3 Idiots, because the DVD was released so late. Considering that, my personal favorite would be "Zoobi Doobi", but from last years' releases, "Dum Dum" is probably the best. I do, however, prefer "Munni" over "Sheila".
ACEBAs:
1) "Dum Dum": Band Baaja Baaraat
2) "Sheila Ki Jawani": Tees Maar Khan
3) "Pe Pe Pepein": Chance Pe Dance
4) "Munni Badnaam Hui": Dabangg
5) "Fire": Kites
6) "Nakhre": Action Replayy
Don't have much more to say than to the ISHQ result... Nice that they included a song from Kites - Hrithik is my favorite dancer ever. He is simply perfect. Some may say too perfect, but I like being perfect (Black Swan, if you know what I mean... and I take ballet classes myself, by the way).
BEST NEWCOMER - MALE [only ACEBAs]
1) Ranveer Singh: Band Baaja Baaraat
2) Omkar Das Manikpuri: Peepli [Live]
3) Ali Zafar: Tere Bin Laden
4) Aditya Roy Kapur: Guzaarish
5) Rajat Barmecha: Udaan
6) Pradhuman Singh: Tere Bin Laden
Aditya Roy Kapur, "that I'm not laughing!" (German expression, I felt nothing else was appropriate). I voted for Omkar Das, it was before I had seen BBB. I'd probably vote for Ranveer now.
BEST NEWCOMER - FEMALE [only ACEBAs]
1) Sonakshi Sinha: Dabangg
2) Zarine Khan: Veer
3) Shraddha Kapoor: Teen Patti
4) Arya Banerjee: LSD
5) Nushrat Bharucha: LSD
I voted for Sonakshi, of course. But I'd like to see the two LSD-ladies on the second and third place.
Unbelievable that both We Are Family and Guzaarish made it into the Top 5 of the Best Films. Tees Maar Khan was much better - and I know I'm pretty alone with that opinion. Yes, I liked the film, and I'm not going to apologize for that (I also didn't expect much, so how could it be the film I was most disappointed by?). Haven't seen neither Veer nor Dulha Mil Gaya (again, good reasons), so We Are Family would definitely win this section if I were to decide. And Tees Maar Khan would be 5) - even Guzaarish was worse.
BEST COSTUMES [only ACEBAs]
1) Band Baaja Baaraat
2) Golmaal 3
3) Guzaarish
4) Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai
5) Kites
6) Tees Maar Khan
Agrrrrrreeed! (I want those clothes!).
JODI NO. 1 [only ISHQ]
1) Shah Rukh Khan & Kajol: My Name Is Khan (also editors' choice)
2) Shahid Kapoor & Genelia D'Souza: Chance Pe Dance
3) Anushka Sharma & Ranveer Singh: Band Baaja Baaraat
Shah Rukh + Kajol is nothing new, we've seen it a hundred times - but then again, don't we still love. Don't they still enchant us with their mind-blowing chemistry on screen? Come on... yes, they do. And that's why they won over the fresh newcomers of BBB and the interesting pairing of Ishqiya.
BEST EDITING [only ACEBAs]
1) Band Baaja Baaraat
2) Kites
3) Ishqiya
4) Aakrosh
5) Prince
6) Rann
Yeah, go on... (good choice, yap).
BEST GERMAN RELEASE [only ISHQ]
1) My Name Is Khan: Extended Director's Cut (DVD)
2) Koyla - Glut der Rache
3) Tanz um dein Glück - Chance Pe Dance
4) Kites - Auf der Flucht
5) My Name Is Khan: shortened cinema version
6) Sag Ja zur Liebe - Dulha Mil Gaya
7) Gestern, heute und für immer - Love Aaj Kal (editors' choice)
8) Live aus Peepli - Irgendwo in Indien (Peepli Live)
I don't buy many German releases, as they are mostly a lot more expensive than the Indian ones, but I do own the "Director's Cut" of MNIK. It's only called "Director's Cut", because the cinema version was shortened - which I didn't like, but whatever. The German DVD is good, I mean, I didn't watch the special features yet, but...
BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS/ STUNTS/ ACTION [only ACEBAs]
1) Dabangg
2) Toonpur Ka Superhero
3) Prince
4) Veer
The only one who was qualified enough to win this.
BEST "LOVE SCENE" [a special ISHQ Award]
1) My Name Is Khan ("Marry me!") (also editors' choice)
2) Kites (Kiss scene)
3) Anjaana Anjaani ("That's not funny anymore, Kiara.")
4) Aisha (Balcony scene)
5) Band Baaja Baaraat ("Let me rest...")
Come on, guys... this is getting really boring and foreseeable. I'm not blaming the magazine - they had good nominations - but the general viewer is almost as unspectacular as the general public... Man. I can agree on Kajol and Shah Rukh being the Jodi No. 1, we already discussed that, but it's not equal with having the best "love scene", because it's not equal with having the best screenplay-writer to write it.
THE 5 MOST ANTICIPATED FILMS [a special ISHQ Award]
The editors didn't vote for this one.
1) Don 2 (Shah Rukh, Priyanka)
2) Ra.One (Shah Rukh, Kareena)
3) Untitled (Aamir, Rani, Kareena)
4) Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (Hrithik, Farhan, Abhay)
5) Mausam (Shahid, Sonam)
As the two Shah Rukh films are the ones most likely to have a theatrical release in Germany, I understand why they are the most anticipated ones. Also because of Shah Rukh himself, of course. And because Don 2 was partly filmed in Berlin (yes, I wanted to go there, but long story). I chose Untitled, though - the pairing is too interesting.
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Phew, that was some hard work, putting this together. I hope you enjoy.
About 90 years ago, women started cutting their long locks into bobs, and later on even as short as men's hair. Today, women with short hair don't need to hide, at least not in the western society. But long hair is still an important part of femininity and perhaps also female sex-appeal. The largest part of girls and women could never imagine ordering a short cut at the hair dresser. Sometimes, when many female celebrities, or one important one, cut their hair, it's "in" again, but not many actresses or singers have the guts to do so. One aspect is that it doesn't suit everyone, another one is that a lot of elderly women have short hair, and a lot of small children have short hair - and who wants to look like either a grandma, a baby or just plain ugly?
Two weeks ago, I decided to cut my hair. I went to the hair dresser with my sister - it was a very impulsive decision, but I haven't regretted it yet. Apart from one, my friends and acquaintances have all kept kind words and compliments at hand for my new hair cut.
While I'm waiting for the ACEBA results to be published, so I can finish my award comment, I decided to put together a list of female actresses that rocked the silver screen, the red carpet and their living rooms with androgyne hair...
Audrey Hepburn
One of the first women I thought of when starting to write this, was Audrey Hepburn. She's one of those starlets from which I've never seen a complete film (why? - not enough time?), but nevertheless admire. Everyone can see she's a beauty, maybe even more beautiful with short hair than long. But despite that, I've read that she had issues with her looks, and wasn't fully confident with herself. I hope that's not true - it would be very sad.
Emma Watson
From one of the classic icons to a very young actress, who just recently decided to get rid of "it". Emma was probably the first actress I ever looked up to, the first real role model of my life. Funnily, I always wanted hair like hers - and indeed, mine was quite similar, though maybe a little thicker. Now, don't think I cut my hair because she did. She was an inspiration, yes, but I loved her long locks as much as my own... In any case, we're both short haired now. Emma said cutting her hair made her feel sexier. I don't know about that.
Keira Knightley
Before she had her big break with Pirates of the Caribbean, Keira, one of my favorite actresses (I know, she has many haters), starred in the rather unsuccessful The Jacket, a film for which her hair was trimmed considerably short. My hair cut, it so happened, actually looks a lot like hers (we also both have an oval-shaped face), and I plan on letting it grow for the next 12 months, just like she did.
(Boys, if you're reading this you might be quite bored, so I don't mind if you quit reading at this point).
Natalie Portman
Natalie didn't just trim it a little, no, she is one of the few not stupid but brave women who have shaved it (an example for a stupid one: Britney Spears). I am astonished by how beautiful she looks, even without any hair. V for Vendetta is another one of those films I really, really want to watch, and wonder why I never do so.
Bipasha Basu
As one of the few Indian actresses, Bipasha decided to cut her hair shorter than shoulder-lenghth (oh - my - gosh). I wonder why we almost never see an Indian heroine with short hair - is Bollywood still that un-modern? And the longer we go south, the longer is the hair, generally (talking of Telugu and Tamil films). I think it's a great step from Bipasha to dare facing the scissors - not to mention the bob looks amazing on her. Lara Dutta also wore a bob for a while, just like Urmila Matondkar.
Preity Zinta
Now that I'm already talking about Bollywood... Okay, it was an awful cut/ wig Preity, my favorite Indian actress, wore in the second (or was it the first?) half of Lakshya. Nevertheless, it was short, and that's why I had to mention it. On the other hand, it might have scared other film makers and actresses away from short hair.
Camilla Belle
The Ballad of Jack and Rose is a very disturbing, yet wonderful film starring Camilla Belle. In the film, she cuts her hair all by herself, and the result is quite realistic (Anjaana Anjaani, we're all looking at you!) - not too pretty, at least. But sympathetic. I don't know if Camilla actually cut her hair, or if she wore a wig.
Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett is so damn cool.
I can't forget my grandma partied with her in Vegas, when she was still an unknown theatre actress. Short hair suits her just as well as the floor-lenghth waves in Lord of the Rings.
Shabana Azmi
One of Bollywoods last elderly divas went bald for the film Water - and yes, that wasn't a fake.
She didn't look just as magical as Natalie Portman, but still kudos to her for having the guts to shave it. For real.
Other (honorable) mentions:
Mandira Bedi, a B-movie actress, I think, cut off her hair some time... It didn't look mind-blowing, though.
Charlize Theron isn't one of my favorite actresses, but she did look fabulous with the pixie.
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I don't want to have too many pictures of myself on this blog, but in this case, I guess the whole post has awakened your curiosity, and since the celebs stood by their short hair, I will do the same - so here I am, proudly presenting my new hair cut.
(That's my dog, Molly, in my arms - in case you wondered).
And PS: I changed the blog name from "Bollywood-addict" to "Film Addict". The header was also modified a bit, just like the side bar. I hope you like it (is the header too boring now?).
NB: May contain spoilers (though I'm sure you know them already, even if you haven't seen the film, so read on if you want to).
+ I wrote this review in the middle of the night, so it might not be linguistically perfect.
My Bollywood lean time is finally, finally over - it ended with a big BANG yesterday night (this review was written 2. August).
The "Bang" is also known as Band Baaja Baaraat, one of the most celebrated hits of the previous filmi year, that I have been literally dying to watch (!).
After a sad misunderstanding with my father (I was sure he was going to give it to me as a birthday present), and my unsure-ness about ordering DVDs from India to Germany, the German Bollywood specialist label Rapid Eye Movies released the film here in Germany, so I ran out to the store to buy it. As I have watched the film with two cultivated German ladies, who otherwise love opera and similar, I can truly recommend it for convincing people that Bollywood is great. At least women, I don't know about men - and their filmic taste shouldn't be too elitist, however.
BBB is at the same time just as good as I had expected and also maybe even better. It's hard to decide, honestly. It is at any rate a fantastic film that has been needed badly.
I have personally "grown up" (first "met" Bollywood when I was 9) with the classic 90s and early 2000 blockbusters like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Main Hoon Na, Yes Boss etc., all of them very colourful, funny in a cute way and of course, romantic. Today, the times have changed, and a film like KKHH wouldn't work today as it did in 1998. But that doesn't mean we have to forget those old times, or leave them behind - BBB is the proof.
Yash Raj is back on track - but this time, everything is a little more realistic.
The film is just as colourful, funny, cute and romantic as my childhood classics, and the story is similarly easy to see through. This description may turn a lot of people off, especially the ones with the very elitist taste, that I mentioned before. I do have traces of that elitist taste in myself, probably because I taught myself to be like that - read avantgarde or very classic books and watch a lot of arthouse films. However, there is a part of me, the part that loved the films when she was young, that longs for those films, makes me re-watch the "old" favorites every year and enjoy them so much.
This part of me does not have a brain in the common sense. Yes, she can turn the brain off. Isn't that just wonderful? And practical? It was she, who made me watch Band Baaja Baaraat. And I am forever thankful to her.
A scene that truly impressed my fellow audience was the kiss scene. "How natural, how tasteful, how magical!" - those were their words. And I can only agree. That kiss might be the best kiss ever made in Indian cinema.
"Ainvayi Ainvayi" - already a classic amongst Fans.
Did I mention that BBB is colourful?
So far, I think that Anushka Sharma delivered her best performance yet in BBB. Her character does have many layers, which is unusual in romantic comedies - at the beginning, she just seems like a business-minded power woman without any feelings, but as the film goes on, we can see more and more of who she really is. The kiss is a wonderful example for that. Shruti leans to Bittoos shoulders, which shows her being herself the first time - tired, vulnerable and searching for someone to lean on, literally. We also see how afraid and inexperienced she is, when the kiss is approaching, and how long she has kept many of her feelings locked inside. I can only say it again: the kiss scene is incredible. Not only because it really makes you blush (the only other scene [in an Indian film] that made this happen to me, was the famous Kaminey one), but also because it is so essential for the whole film and the characters. We also get to know Bittoo a little better, somehow. Well, I'll stop now - maybe I am interpreting too much into films.
The soundtrack of BBB is also similar to my childhood favorites - a mixture of songs for different moods and occasions, one or two really haunting melodies, and some forgettable ones. Important is, how the songs are realized on screen - "Ainvayi Ainvayi", the Shaadi Mubarak song, "Aadha Ishq", the sometimes happy sometimes sad love song, "Tarkeebein", the background song" and "Dum Dum", the Item number/ mega Bollywood song. And not to forget the Theme Song, "Band Baaja Baaraat", which also only appears in the background. I was especially impressed by the choreography for "Dum Dum", even though it is incredibly unrealistic, especially in context.
Kudos to Maneesh Sharma and Yash Raj Films! I wish the former mentioned good luck with his further career in Mumbai, and to YR I'd like to say: welcome back!
BBB is already a favorite, and I want to recommend it to every living soul - though I do know that not everyone is going to love it as much as I do. If you do love the film, and maybe interpret as (too) much as I do into it, then Cheers!
(A lot of exclamation marks in this review - I'm sure F. Scott Fitzgerald would only shake his head at me).
Rating: 8.7
PS: Yes, BBB does have faults - but child-me didn't see them.
As you know, I've been away from home for a long time, almost three weeks in July.
Therefore, the yield of cinematic experiences for last month is tiny.
Barely 18 films to talk about, and a lot of them is just trash, trash, trash...
Explanation? There is one: I lived with my Danish guest family (if you are a frequent visitor, you will know whom I am talking about), and well... they have a quite simple taste for movies.
That's not bad. It's what most people have - at least these do have a little sense for good films... But, well, we also watched a lot of trash.
And by the way, the first row of movies (on the picture) is what I watched in Greenland, meaning in the first three weeks of the month.
That's also why I didn't watch any Bollywood films, for the first time in... 1 year? (There was a time when I didn't watch as many films as I do now).
18 - attarah (yes, I do miss you, Hindi speaking people in my favorite films...)
Triple Agent (2004) Eric Rohmer
France, French - First view
This was the only DVD laying around where we lived, and there was only one TV-channel, so off course, we watched this film some time. But only once. It's a good example for how you can make a good film without much effort, it all looked very simple - editing, shooting, directing. However, it didn't fully catch my interest, somehow, also because the characters stay "cool". You don't really get into the film. And at the end, I didn't understand it - the story.
The Sin Eater (2003) Brian Helgeland
USA/ Germany, English - First view
We had to wait two days to get out of Saqqaq, so I was incredibly bored and we borrowed some DVDs from a brother of my guest mom. This is the first one. The most interesting things about it were Heath Ledger and the fact that a German actor was in it (Benno Fürmann). What I like about films like these is the knowledge you get about history and religion. Otherwise... well, an un-scary horror film.
Dead & Buried (1981) Gary Sherman
USA, English - First view
Now this is a real oldie horror film. What I like about these kinds of films is, that you can see how much film makers were capable of doing in a horror film at that time.
At least it was scarier than The Sin Eater - but not much.
Qivitoq (1956) Erik Balling
Denmark, Danish/ Inuit - Second view
I already wrote about Qivitoq in April. It was interesting to watch the film a second time after having been to the places it was filmed, and having seen many of the people that were in it.
Raising Helen (2004) Gary Marshall
USA, English - First view
Well, Gary Marshall, Kate Hudson... you can't expect anything new from a film with those names. It was... okay. Maybe. I honestly don't remember.
The Fighter (2011) David O. Russell
USA, English - First view (on flight)
This was one of the last 2011-Oscar-films I hadn't yet seen, and I don't even really know why... Maybe it was because of the title - it sounds a bit macho-esque, and then the plot... But the film is so much better than what I had thought! All actors are brilliant - my favorite being Christian Bale, who blew me away with his performance. I loved his role, I hated his role, I... think I went through every stage of liking with it. This film once again proved that 1) boxing films are great, 2) sports films can be about more than sport (and no, we're not talking team work or friendship or any of those old-chewing-gum-topics), and 3) but not least: action films that are maybe supposed to be "men's films" can turn out to become some of my favorites. Aside from Harry Potter (sorry, fan-ship counts more), The Fighter is the best feature film I've seen this month.
She's Out of My League (2010) Jim Field Smith
USA, English - First view
Films like this can easily turn out to be either boring, porno-esque, embarrassing - or maybe even a mixture of these. However, there's something about this film. It doesn't take itself too seriously, for instance. It has some almost black (or at least grey) humour, and at the same time, you feel there's a heart in it. The actors are also mainly quite good - my personal "pearl" being Krysten Ritter. I'd love her in anything.
Scary Movie 3(2003) David Zucker
USA, English - First view
Very formula-orientated filmic slapstick/ scorcher. But still better than the first film (haven't seen the second one).
Long Weekend (2008) Jamie Blanks
Australia, English - First view
Starts quite promising and manages to build up some tension, but then slowly dies away. You never really get shocked, except for the scene where the guy finds a dead girl in a car, and in the last scene, before the guy runs away (I don't want to ruin the film for anyone who wants to watch it). As a self-declared horror film specialist (well, not really, but I've watched a lot of horror films, love them, and basically watch everything I can get my hands on), I cannot recommend this film whatsoever.
Old Dogs (2009) Walt Becker
USA, English - First view
I love Robin Williams and I love John Travolta (as actors, at least). I also had a lot of fun with Wild Hogs. Old Dogs takes the fun a little further, I think, I mean we all laughed a lot. And that's rare these days. I don't laugh at many comedies, most are just boring, especially the "romantic" ones. My favorite comedies are still the rather black ones, but I do like a family-friendly comedy that is actually funny - if it is actually funny. This one is, I can assure you of that. Watch it with your family.
Lassie (1994) Daniel Petri
USA, English Lassie is such a nice movie for children, much better than all those loud and fancy... I-don't-know-what-to-call-them. My favorite children films will forever be the Disney classics and the Pixar films, but right after those comes Lassie. I didn't really watch the whole film, though, the grandchildren of my guest mom did.
Disaster Movie (2008) Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer
USA, English - First view
This film really is a disaster. I don't really know what to do about those mass produced film parodies. On one hand, they do have some fun scenes, but most of it is just... well, a disaster. Made for the only purpose of luring masses of teenagers into the cinemas and get their money. Date Movie was actually quite funny - the other ones? Forget about them.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II (2011) David Yates
UK, English - First view (cinema, 3D)
I - am - a - sucker - for - Harry Potter. I am fanatic about these series. The books and the movies. When I was a little kid, I couldn't wait to turn 11, because I was so sure an owl would come and bring me an invitation to Hogwarts. My favorite film, and probably also book, will forever be the third one, but in a filmic view, the last one was probably the best one. Filmic-ally. Do you know what I mean? Well, that's what all the grown-ups and critics say. The 3D effect was nice, but as often unnecessary. Harry doesn't need any "amplifier" - it is magical enough. Oh, I can't believe it's over, it's really over...
Gone with the Wind (1939) Victor Fleming
USA, English - First view
Whoever spread the rumour that Gone with the Wind is one of the best films ever made, and one of the best love stories ever told is a badass liar. I didn't understand any freaking bit of it! Okay, it is a story about the southern states and how people lived and how the civil war changed everything - but that's it? That's f***ing it? (Sorry, but I was more than disappointed after 4 hours of nothingness). No love? I mean, if I got the end and the whole story right, then she doesn't love him (yeah, they say she does, but I can see she doesn't), and he loves her but hates her and leaves her. The kisses were awful, too. All of the "emotional" scenes were awful. Hey, I was expecting another Dirty Dancing, or Titanic, or Romeo + Juliet. So I decided now, to take a very drastic and maybe never before seen step. I will not recommend this film. No, I will even warn all of those who haven't seen it yet. Do watch it, if you must, but be aware of what this film really is, under the 11-oscars mask... : nothing.
Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) Michael Moore
USA, English - First view
Michael Moore, I want a child from you. Okay, I don't want to have it myself, but I want you to have one. America, the whole world, would be different, if it weren't for you. You brought me awake, shook the naïve girl inside of me, made me shed tears and shake my head in anger and disbelief. The world needs to see this documentary.
I'm personally very cautious when capitalism is denounced, because it automatically makes me think that the only other way is communism. Which wouldn't be democracy. The idea of a democratic economic system never even crossed my mind. But it is wonderful. It's what I had been searching for, the perfect idea, a solution. Of course, it would never change everything, all problems can never be solved - but it would be so much better than now. This film also reminded me of how fortunate I am, we all are, to live in Germany or Denmark, to live in Europe. Our system is working, more or less.
I am shocked - I am shocked - I am shocked.
The Family Man (2000) Brett Ratner
USA, English - First view
Hm, I like Rush Hour. It's funny. I also liked this film, but only a little, little bit. It has these ambitions of being a "serious" film, that makes people think. But it's too commercial for that.
Cars 2 (2011) John Lasseter, Brad Lewis
USA, English - First view (cinema, 3D)
I already told you that I'm a big Disney Pixar lover, and Cars 2 once again proved this. It might be a little senseless and very guff-y, but I need that once in a while. It's so sweet, so full of details, so enchanting.
Knight and Day (2010) James Mangold
USA, English - First view
As a real person, I hate Tom Cruise. The fact that he's scientology is enough for me. But I have to admit that he does a decent job in mainstream Hollywood films, especially action comedies. Same for Cameron Diaz - with the difference that she also did some not-totally mainstream films, in which I liked her. This could have been a quite mediocre action flick that you forget after one week, but there's something about it that makes it a bit more special. I can't really put a name on it... whatever, it's fun.
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