Prometheus - movie review

Why on earth (or the other galaxies) didn't somebody warn me about Prometheus? A simple hint that Ridley is trying to re-claim as the original creator of Alien would have prepared me for (or made me avoid) this nasty experience in 3D. But no, none of the reviews or the social noise did. You will have to wait (if you manage to avoid throwing up) till the very last few frames...literally the flashes after the FADE-OUT to yawn "Ohhhh.....okay, so thats what you were trying to convey".

Goes without saying, every act was more gruesome than the previous. Now, I'm not a great fan of 'creature' movies (PREDATOR is an exception). So if you are, then you might not agree with my views. The very very thin line of story or plot gets completely darkened with the gore you see on screen. Halfway through the movie I decided to feast my eyes only on the size zero Charlize and ignore the rest. No whats the point of getting Guy Pearce if you are gonna hide his whole face with prosthetic ?? I rest my case.

Moving on...

He wore black and I wore white
He would always win the fight

ShUN ShUN, he shot me down
Splat splat, I hit the ground
Dhaam Dhoom, that awful sound
Chen chen, my mady got me down.

Seasons came and changed the time
When I wake up, the day'll be mine

Now he's gone, and I know why
Untill this day, sometimes I cry

I didn't even say goodbye
I didn't take the time to lie.

Bang bang, I shot you down
Bang bang, you hit the ground
Bang bang, that awful sound
BANG BANG, I always shoot you down !

Thadayra thaakka - review

You could say I was waiting for this one. I wanted to see how Magizh Thirumeni graduates in his second venture after Mundhinam Paartheney. And kudos to him for choosing to try his hand at a different genre rather than another romantic comedy. It takes guts to shred one's own feathers and emerge new. Having said that, he's still not able to shred off his mentor's influences on him - a lot of muted words in the dialogues even after a "A" certification by the censor.

Thadaiyara thaakka is not your everyday action flick. What makes it different from the average hero/heroine caught in the wrong place at wrong time with villain movie is the "treatment". Though there were some hits and misses with the narration and screenplay, the treatment of the story is very fresh to Tamil cinema. For instance, my friend felt the movie is very violent whereas there is not a single instance of drop of blood splatting on the screen. That is the "impact" that leaves in your mind letting you fill the gaps rather than showing things explicitly. There are many puzzles for us to solve even in the hero's characterisation...sometimes we even wonder if he is actually in love with the heroine.

Every actor barring Rakul Preet Singh, the newcomer leaves an impact. Arun vijay has waited quite along time for this one and let us hop his underplay works. Vamsi Krishna, for sure, is gonna make some rounds in the coming years. Mamta couldn't have done more justice to a story like this. The Gayathri character would have worked if played by some veteran known face in Tamil....you just can't shove in a new face after 3/4th of the film is over and expect miracles.

Thaman's background has filled in whatever is needed to scare and thrill you. Kelaamale is good but badly shot, I wonder what happend to the melody Kaalangal ? And I won't complain for a needless Poondamalli song at the beginning of the movie - there are many non-creative reasons in Tamil film making that makes this mandatory. Action by Anal Arasu and Cinematorgraphy by  N. Sukumar are "effective" (pun intended). I don't know if it is editing or the dialogues, once the plot is set and the goose chase begins the movie reduces itself to a average goonda film. The too many twists and turns in the second half don't actually work because the screenplay lacks a rhythm for you to follow.

There is a thaakkam (impact) for sure but not thadaiyara (hurdle free) !

Vazhakku Enn 18/9 - review

A lot has been said and written about this movie. It is touted as a major milestone in Tamil cinema history like a Sethu or Subramaniyapuram. Unfortunately, I was not very impressed ! No doubt, it is a neat presentation without any cliches or skin-show for the chosen issue, but it was not a very gripping narration for the genre chosen. The two legs of the narrative does overlap each other but for no reason or impact. For instance, why should the protagonist help the rich boy by pushing his car to start ? What difference would it make if it was some other passerby who pushed the car there ? Nothing. How does showing the guy's past in North-India help this investigation which is the crux of the story ? No way ! The plot is also not completely devoid of holes. There are movies in the same investigative movies (with a dash of romance) in the recent past (read RAAM) which managed to hold the attention of the audience throughout.

Balaji Sakthivel shocked me as an audience with the final quarter of his previous movies whereas the surprise element in this climax is not very effective. There were many incomplete characters which might represent various elements in the society but they do not help the story in any way. Excellent cinematography for sure with a digital still camera. An Ok background score by Prasanna. The "Vaanathaiye" song was good but got annoying when it was repeated so many times ! Karthik's Solo Oru kural was soothing. Very good performances by all the new comers, they did what was told and fit their characters. Editing and art department have done a good job. Not a great case made, but made with a good heart.

You are your brand !

You have to live and love your brand ! You need to eat, sleep, drink and breathe it through the thousands of cells in your body....and thats just a beginning ! your customers will start giving a second look and start recognizing it soon.

To begin with, if you are start up company, the first thing everybody you are trying to sell is gonna do is check if he has "heard" about your "brand". So give a name to your product / service. Take time to make a neat logo that expresses your spirit of business (joyful or professional or whatever the spirit is) This is probably the first thing you must do. Make something that people can easily remember and associate you with.

Then go head over heels to promote it ! Your passion and love for your brand should be the fire that ignites other matchsticks, that is your first few loyal customers. Yep, get them excited about using your product. Give away compliments etched with your brand name. Of course don't do a direct marketing - find the best occasion in their life to do it and give your compliment with even a simple "Best wishes from (Your brand)" written on it.

Take your brand everywhere you go and let the customers do the same.

Wanna know how much we love thiray ? Oh..we go crazy with thiray ! Our team attended the International Film Festival in Goa. There were some computers in the lobby for the delegates to check their emails. We promptly set the default homepage of all the browsers in all the computers to www.thriay.com, so that everybody who stops to check their email sees our landing page first !

Limitless - movie review

Watched Limitless today. It joins the list of movies that I call "don't get me started now..." along with In time, Unknown, Drive etc which equally disappointed me in the recent past.

I'm a Jesse Cook fan

O My God ! thats how I got blown away when I heard this guy's music. I happened to be at a bookstore where they played Tuesday's Child and I became an instant fan of Jesse Cook. Loved his flamenco-rumba approach and was amazed at the wide range of emotions his music conveys.

Margin Call - movie review

Okay this one was a stunner. Probably because many of the academy list did not live up to my expectations. But my first reaction to this movie is - Good ! Kudos to the debut director J.C. Chandor

This movie works for today's corporate world because one could connect to the crux of it - be it being called back to office late nights or all hands working the whole night to save the ship from sinking or getting axed one fine morning and much more - we get a feeling of been there gone through that. If you take off the financial market jargons (thankfully not much of it) it would fit to any other industry. And the director cleverly takes us away from the subjectivity of the issue. The computer screen or the report that reveals the main issue that the whole story revolves around is never shown to the audience ! It is the cast and the performance that makes it so real.

When it comes to performances you don't expect anything less than perfectness from the bunch of Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jermy Irons, Demi Moore and Stanley Tucci and you get just that. The surprise packages were of course the two young analysts Zachary Quinto and Pen Badgley. Oh boy...don't we all see a Seth Bregman in our offices? There is an emotional side of the story which I don't personally subscribe to but I loved the choice of montage shots with the wonderful Paul Bettany's voice over for the day's proceedings where the solution to the problem is actually implemented.

Have you been able to make the difference in the pep-talk from your boss when he truly believes in what he is saying and when he does not ? Have you been suddenly called for an unexpected meeting that is way over your pay grade and wonder what the hell is happening ? Have you seen the same problem being viewed from different perspectives by different people up the org-chart ? These are some of the reasons why you should catch this movie.

The academy list...

The Iron lady
The Artist
Ides of March
Drive
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

6 down...4 more to go

The descendants
Hugo
Warhorse
The Help

did I miss something?

Will your business really make you rich ?

When these two things happen without any push from your side, you can be assured that your startup / business is moving in the right direction to make you rich !

1. Your customers tell you directly what they don't like about your Product / Service
2. Your customers tell their friends about what they like about your Product / Service

10 Useful Free Offline Android apps / utilities that I use

I love apps which are offline !

My Phone Explorer - The PC client, backup tool, Outlook sync, Todo list,Calendar yada yada...
Flex T9 Input - Keyboard
SMS Replier - Automatically replies calls / messages when you are busy or driving etc
Call Informer - Great tool to view more about the caller / contacts before answering the call (like category etc)
SMS Reader - Reads sms (or just the sender name )aloud as it arrives.
Total Recall - Call recorder
Setting porfiles - Profile manager
Phonalyzr - Reports on call usage
The Speaking Clock 
Droid Light  - Light application with color / Message display and more option.

The apps I'm looking for....


1. Offline Speech to voice app
2. Offline Map / Navigation (No luck with Mapdroid )
3. Offline Answering machine / Voice mail app that stores messages in the SD memory

Help me find these...