X-Men 3 The Last Stand - Movie Review.

X-Men 3 - The Last Stand - 8/10 - starring Hugh Jackman, Kelsey Grammer and Halle Berry. I basically went to watch Wolverine kiss / shirtless and was not disappointed. Awesome special effects, especially Pyro's car bombs and the Golden Gate bridge scene. Frasier Crane's blue animal getup and fight scenes were funny - him punching the 4 syringes into Magneto drew a lot of whistles from the crowd.

The film was good, but the previous ones were better - basically because most of the characters either die ( Charles, Jean and Scott) or lose thier powers ( Rogue, Magneto and the Blue Lady). I still think it's worth a watch and would recommend it for it's CG effects - no point watching it on a small screen.

    

AIIMS doctors in anti reservation strike need a lobotomy

As kids grow up thier parents tell them of thier caste, eg. "our whole family are doctors, it is in our blood - those scheduled castes are born to clean toilets etc. How can we let them come up to our 'Aukaad'?" It is basically statements like these ingrained since childhood in the subconcious of students that has lead them to protest to such an extent.
Here are some of the arguments given by the students and why it is total shit.

1. Meritless students entering will lead to inefficiency - We all know in India that many folks get into these so called prestigious institutes like AIIMS, IIT's and IIM's by paying touts lakhs to cheat in the exams. Even the marking system in exams is faulty. Ever wondered why those super intelligent classmates of yours never got into AIIMS/ IIT ? Those who get into these institutes maybe 90 percenters just coz they answered certain questions right on a certain lucky day - this should not mean that those who get 70 -80 percent have no merit -are useless - will be bad doctors. A Doctor should be a caring, compassionate person, genuinely interested in the welfare of patients - not a person who holds the entire country to ransom with threats to kill sick and defenceless patients by not attending to them, just because 'life' is a non-negotiable commodity.

2. I would not want to go to a doctor who got through on quota - What guarantee do we have that so called general candidates will make good doctors ? Many of these folks have radical ideas like Euthanasia. Those coming from doctor families learn tricks of the trade like not fully treating a patient so that he keeps coming back to you again and again for medicines. Anyway, all AIIMS interns don't become practising doctors - some do MBA and join the private sector, some go abroad, most women get married and become housewives, some like Palaash Sen become indi-flop stars. What about that weird naked AIIMS doctor - Sandhu with the guitar - forget about brain surgery I would'nt even let him check my pulse !!

3. Quotas have been there for the past 58 years, why still have it - that's coz over the past years the upper castes in power at the centre, state and local levels have never allowed the lower castes to make use of the quota system. Money sanctioned in the budget for thier development was siphoned off into the pockets of the powerful, leaving the SC/ST as poor and helpless as before.

4. Primary Education in the solution - when every Indian Citizen is provided equal quality education, then only we can talk about removing quotas. As of today, education in unequal and hence quotas are neccessary.

6. People are making fake SC/ST certificates - is a police problem. Just coz some subvert the law does'nt mean you repeal the law. eg. Just coz some women file fake rape cases should not mean that there should be no law against rape.

7. Only Creamy layer SC/ST's are benefiting - that's thier good fortune coz changing the law to exclude them would be difficult to legislate.

8. Police are using undue violence on the protesters - students all through history are known for getting over emotional on various causes - shout abuses, yell insulting slogans, make threats, form a pushing shoving crowd etc. Just coz the media censored thier bad behaviour does'nt mean it did not happen, as everyone who was ever a student knows. I still recall kids from DPS, Modern etc. holding a Dharna and threatening to break computers, when we were told that classes were cancelled due to a power cut at NIIT CP during a summer course. Cops are provided with lathis/batons and water cannons in all countries, in case the protesters 'Josh' increases and is used to disperse the crowd so public property is not destroyed. It also does not help, when publicity seekers like Navjot Singh Sidhu start 'Bhadka-ing' the students with his 'Krantikaari' quotes learnt from old hindi publications.

9. The congress will lose the next election - No Way !! coz we all know that students never vote. Most of themeither don't have ID cards or are never in thier constituency on voting day. The main vote bank of the Congress are the Scheduled Castes and other minorities that were ignored by the pro-rich BJP. As the Congress is now in power, they have a duty to fulfill thier pre election promises to thier voters so that they get elected next time also. Why should they bother about hot-headed upper caste Anti-Reservation students that would never vote for them even if thier demands were fulfilled ?

    

Da Vinci Code - most talked about super flop

I remember borrowing this book by Dan Brown a couple of years ago from a cameraperson at my office - I did not get past the first chapter....it was quite boring. Today, the promos of the film on TV just have'nt created enough interest to make me think of buying a ticket. Even the religious controversy created by the Producers is not enough to sell this really drab and boring looking film.

Da Vinci Code gets just a 19 percent rating on rottentomatoes.com and really bad reviews from some of the best critics in the world. At first I thought I'd buy a pirated VCD for 50 bucks but now I think I'll wait a couple of weeks for it to come on cable so I can switch channels during the boring parts ( quite a lot).

On the religious controversy part - If Hindus can get an ad of Goddess Durga holding beers banned, Sikhs - Jo bole so Nihaal and Muslims other stuff, then the Christian Community has every right to protest against this film which hurts thier religious sentiments. Jesus and later Gandhiji had said, " If someone slaps you on one cheek, show them the other cheek." This means that if someone does you wrong, stand your ground and protest peacefully - don't just walk away meekly and pretend nothing happened.

The Christians have not asked for a ban on the film but merely for a disclaimer. The Censor Board has agreed the film should have a disclaimer stating "The film is a work of pure fiction and has no correspondence to historical facts of the Christian religion". Dan Brown had already said that his novel was a work of fiction, then why is Sony Pictures refusing to put the disclaimer on the grounds of technicalities ?? Is the film trying to convey to Non Christians that Christianity is a bogus fake cover up religion ? Is it telling Christians that the Bible is a bunch of lies and Dan Brown's fiction is truth ?? With today's technology, they should not have any problem in including the disclaimer - and it certainly does not affect artistic freedom. Those who try to make money by spreading untruths about God can only hope for failure or flops !!

    

36 China Town - Movie Review

36 China Town - 9/10 - This who-dunnit comedy is one of the best I've seen lately. Akshaye is an inspector, Shahid a wannabe filmstar, Kareena - a cheated girlfriend, Upen Patel - a playboy, Lever and Paresh are gamblers, with a surprise appearance by Priyanka C and Tanushree. The story revolves around the murder of Sonia, the owner of a Casino in Goa and the 7 suspects.

The script is really excellent, the jokes kept me laughing non stop throughout the movie, and I could'nt find many holes in the story. Newcomer Upen Patel has acted well. Akshaye Khanna enters after the Interval and looks suave and more handsome than his dad Vinod ( unlike the Darra hua baccha roles he used to do before). The editing was great and so was the sound. Infact everything was awesome - the music - Aashiqui and 24X7 , choreogaphy of Shahid,Upen and Akshaye, well fitting costumes, cinematography and sets. The casting was just right. The Director has done a good job - firstly, by dubbing Upen Patel's voice and secondly by shooting Thailand as Goa. Goa is a nice place but the sea has big waves and looks blackish green unlike the calm light bluish green sea of Thailand, and also the casinos are more fancy in Thailand. The Chinese theme and decor gave an evil mysterious undertone to the film and added to the murder mystery plot.

36 China Town gets extra points for proving that a good film can be made without having to glorify tobacco use, alcohol and drugs, violence, gambling, sleazy sex and melodramatic rona dhona. Akshaye's cigarette never lights, the sharabi's bottle is always empty, there is no fight scene, gamblers lose everything and nobody sleeps with playboy Upen Patel which is a something outspoken 'frustrated' directors like Mahesh Bhatt can learn a lot from.

Those who want to know 'who did it' so they can boast to everyone that they watched the movie too, can hover thier mouse over this sentence !!

Around 70 percent of the audience was female including some firangs, obviously attracted by the sexy posters of Akshaye Khanna. Though most of the seats in the hall were empty, ticket sales should pick up in a few weeks as this is a decent, watchable with family, paisa vasool film that I would'nt mind watching again.

    

Weekend Reviews - Nurburgring F1, Shaadi se Pehle, Being Cyrus

Reviews of what I watched over the weekend -

1. European Grand Prix - 10/10 - for the points Michael Schumacher got for winning the race. Coolest part was the second pit-stop during which Schumi overtook Alonso.

2. Shaadi Se Pehle - 5/10 - Not as bad as I had thought! Akshaye is a Hypochondriac who thinks he is dying of cancer. He tries to get his fiancee (Takia) to leave him by showing he is a Sex 'Bhedhiya'- wolf by chasing Sherawat. A dark comedy, with jokes about death, funerals etc. which is maybe why the film flopped. Rajpal Yadav's comic timing is perfect...with a bit of makeup and a new haircut he'd look like a better version of Emraan Hashmi.

3. Being Cyrus - 3/10 - for Saif's lousy acting, yet again. The casting otherwise was good. Saif should continue to do negative roles - it suits his face and personality. Too much abusive language in the script did'nt add much to the story. Why can't anyone make a sane English film ? It also promoted the stereotype that Parsis are nuts - which may not be entirely untrue !

    

Indian Cricket Team Beauty Pageant 2006

Cyberkitty's Indian Cricket Team Beauty Pageant 2006: As beautiful as Cyberkitty thinks you are.....Presented in Association with meowlife.blogpot.com.

The biggest pageant in Indian Cyberspace was held on May 4th, at meowlife.blogspot.com.


Results of Cyberkitty's Indian Cricket Team Beauty Pageant 2006:

Sub Contest Winners:

1. Mr. Beautiful Hair -
The Nominees are - 'Musharraf's pet' Dhoni, Clinic All Clear -Dravid, Wavy haired Irfan.......
And the Award goes to Harbhajan Singh for the longest hair !!
He recieves the prize of - 1 Ruffle

2. Mr. Beautiful Eyes -
The Nominees are Cat Eyed Agarkar, Brown eyed Sehwag, Winking Kaif......
And the Award goes to 'goggle-nashi' Ramesh Powar for his 'stunning' eyewear.

He recieves the prize of - 1 pair of star shaped Janpath Sunglasses.


3. Mr. Perfect 10 -
The Nominees are - 10dulkar, Kaif, Yuvraj, Irfan........
And the Award goes to Venugopal Rao for his 10 runs in the 3rd ODI with England.
He recieves the prize of - A Barbie Doll

4. Mr. All Rounder -
The Nominees are Irfan, Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Cricket Ball........
And the Award goes to Ramesh Powar of 'Fat but Fit' fame.
His prize - The Cricket ball that lost out !

5. Mr. Beauty with Brains -
The Nominees are '2B Honest' Dravid, Prince of Calcutta Ganguly, 'Exam-oholic' Raina.....
And the Award goes to Anil Kumble for being the only one with a 'Real Job' ! (Director of Stumpvision)
His prize - A copy of Cyberkitty's Resume.

6. Mr. Congeniality -
The Nominees are - Bike Driver Dhoni, Umpire Mimicking Kaif, Grinning Gambhir.....
Awarded to Rahul Dravid for his diplomacy in making the team click and dealing with Ganguly.
His prize - Free Dinner for 12 ( team + chappell) at Ganguly's Restaurant 'Souravs'

7. Mr. Talented -
The Nominees are Man of Matches Yuvraj, Match Finisher Raina, Good at Everything Irfan........ But the Award goes to SreeSanth for his butt-shaking dance moves on getting a wicket !
His prize - One of Yuvraj's Page 3 Party invitations.

8. Mr. Catwalk -
The Nominees are Reebok's Dhoni and Yuvraj, Samsung's Irfan, Sehwag.......
And the Award goes to Mohammad Kaif for his ' Bheegi Billi ' walk back to the Pavilion.
And he wins - A jug of milk with Boost

9. And finally the 'Mr. India' Title -
The Nominees are Sexy Kaif, Handsome Irfan, Stud Dhoni, Suave Yuvraj........
But the winner is 'chased from hotel' Dinesh Karthik, the most 'invisible' team member ! Runner's up are Munaf Patel and Robin Uthappa.
And they all win DVD's of Anil Kapoor's film 'Mr.India'

10. Consolation Prize -
Awarded to Mahendra Singh Dhoni for his 'Bholepan, Sadhgi, Dilkashi Aur Taazgi' that has won Cyberkitty's heart.
His Prize - Gets to go motorbike riding on a hot date with Cyberkitty !!

This Pageant for Charity was held during the 'Really Long Break' before the India - West Indies Series due to be played in May 2006. The proceeds of the event were donated to The Trust for Indians suffering from 'Lack of Cricket Disease' and is meant to be taken seriously.

Tags: Indian Cricket Team beauty contest Mahendra Singh Dhoni Irfan Pathan cricket India