Despite the warmer weekend, I stayed in most of it, relaxing, watching some movies and of course doing work for work in preparation for a presentation.
I finally saw Piranha 3D on Saturday night. Wow, what a movie. The 3D shots were nice, especially underwater and of course the babes. The movie is Girls Gone Wild meets Jaws with a whole hell of a lot more gore. The amount of mutilated and mangled corpses stock piled up every minute the people just swam around panicking with no help coming from the police. The police were simply useless in coordinating any sort of plan to save people. And the scientist character played by Christopher Lloyd could have at least given them some sort of way to at least hinder the Piranha’s voraciousness. You would still get the the blood and guts (which went on for a good 15 minutes), but you would have at least a little sense of the cops attempting to handle the situation. Their only attempts to stop them was to use shotguns and a boat’s motor as a chainsaw. Was the 3D part worth it? Yeah, to a point. The naked swimming babes: awesome. The underwater part where the piranha’s fight over a certain mangled male appendage and then spit it out toward the viewer was a bit much. The movie wouldn’t to be on my top list of favorite 3D movies, but it will make a nice one to check out from time to time.
I mentioned in my last blog post about Slumdog Millionaire. Well, I saw it at Best Buy when I was out shopping for 3D movies and decided to buy it too. Was it good? Yeah, it was good. The rags-to-riches story was nice. I wish they had a few musical numbers in it (other than the one at the very end), but it was a real treat to see Anil Kapoor in it.
One last thing on movies. I talked about two movies I saw (and purchased) this weekend. The last one I purchased and will watch tonight is Step Up 3D. I’ll blog on it next time.
So, I have been blogging in no particularly direction for a few weeks now (this is my fourth post) and I am already thinking of a second blog. The topic? Writing. I started blogging because I wanted to write more. I hoped to not only get better at it and have others see my writing, but also help me break out of my usual writing style: essay format. I’ve always loved writing, but ninety-nine percent of it has been in essay format for school so I naturally developed a voice where I am trying to convince or tell the reader directly about something rather than through characters. This has caused me to have a very difficult time completing a story (I’ve started many, but never completed one). So, I came up with an idea. I will continue to blog normally and work on my various stories (Fly Me to the Sun and Coffee Man), but will also work on one-page short stories. This help me to work through my ever present problem in writing of not being concise enough and also a chance to put pen to paper for some of the other ideas I have that may or may not be worthy of a longer story but are certainly worth a miniature story.
So when will this other blog start? Well, I am almost done with the first story. It’s called Day 167 and as soon as that is done, the blog starts and then I plan to put up a new short story every week or every other week. There will be a link from this blog to that blog (and any other blogs I start up) as this is the main place where I just talk about whatever from week to week.
Well that's about all I have. I have to finish up a bit of work, watch some movies (Step Up 3D and a bollywood one), so I’ve got a busy night ahead. If all goes well this week, I will probably have two new blog posts, one on fitness and how I am tackling Warrior Dash, and the new short story blog featuring Day 167.
All The Best
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
My Love of Bollywood
People are often surprised by how much Bollywood I have watched especially in such a short time. I only started watching them in the summer of 2010 and in fact have never seen Slumdog Millionaire (came out in 2008), the one Indian movie that did very well in US theaters and even won 8 Oscars.
So I decided to count up how many Bollywood films I have seen. First of all, from the Netflix, 74 via instant watch and 46 via the mail. Then you have to add in the 2 I have seen in theaters (Anjaana Anjaani and Action Replayy) and the 4 I own (Chalte Chalte, Asambhav, Drona, and Bhoothnath) and that comes to a total of 126, not counting the new one I just got today from Netflix called Dabangg. Wow! I have seen a lot. Though that pales in comparison to how many that have been made in the lifetime of Bollywood, so I’ve got some catching up to do.
So what drew me to Bollywood films in the first place? Well, I have enjoyed foreign films and television series for a number of years, mostly from countries like Great Britain (the Office, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Coupling, the Man who sued God, etc.), France (Brotherhood of the Wolf), Japan (Bleach, Gintama, Initial D, La Corda d’Oro, etc.), Thailand (Ongbak, the Bodyguard, the Protector, etc.), China (Exiled, Triad Election, the Drummer, etc.), and Korea (Soo). So it was inevitable that I would check out a film or two from India since I seemed to be on an ‘international film watching tour’ of the Eastern world in 2010.
My first movie was Pyaar Impossible. I stumbled upon this one by happenstance. The previous film I had watched (via instant watch) was a Hollywood crime thriller called Rampage. The film was a dark and scary look into a man who had finally had enough with how bad life had treated him that he decided to go on a killing rampage through a small town armed to the teeth with semi-automatic weapons and a home-made bulletproof vest. Wow that was depressing. I thought it was a good, hard look at how far some can fall, but after watching it, I really felt the need for a good, cheerful movie. So that began my quest to peruse Netflix instant watch listings.
I started with the foreign section as I needed a non-American movie. So as I scrolled through the highlighted sections Netflix gives you like Suggestions for You, Dramas, New Arrivals, etc., I saw a mix of horror and drama films that didn’t real appeal to my mood at the time and decided I was looking for something new and that's when curiosity showed me the way. As I got about mid-way down through the suggestions on the main foreign section, a category on the right-hand side of the foreign section where it breaks the main category into sub-sections like Action, Classics, Comedy, etc., caught my attention. It was Bollywood. At the time I did not realize I was entering a world of film that was far different than I could ever imagine.
Pyaar impossible was the first film in the section of Bollywood at the time and had a simple premise that has been done before a million times over: geek pursues beauty. With it being a romantic comedy in which the hero will naturally face all kinds of obstacles with humorous turnouts and eventually get the girl, it was down my alley. So I went for it. About four and half minutes into the film, I was caught off-guard when it shifted from the main character narrating to suddenly a musical number. It was not simply music in the background, but rather it was used to give background on the hero and heroine by having them along with the minor characters singing and dancing in various scenes, which goes on for roughly four minutes (about the length of a music video). To be honest, I’m not a fan musicals and would normally have been turned away at that point, but something was different. The mix of the singing in Hindi, the alluring beauty of the heroine dancing (Priyanka Chopra), and the energetic and uplifting beats of the music took me straight to cloud nine. The shift to musical dance numbers happened several times throughout the film and as I quickly found out after watching more and more Bollywood films, is the iconic marker of them.
After watching a few more films, I founded myself really enjoying them even though many of them range from 2 ½ hours to 3 hours and sometimes longer. It quickly became quite a treat for me as I not only enjoyed the stories, the musical numbers with the mix of dancing and singing in Hindi, but also learning bits and pieces about Indian culture, something I knew very little of. I soon realized that with a lot of Bollywood films you will see the Indian culture (such as daily traditions, marriage customs, clothing, etc.) at the heart of what makes the stories come alive and draw the viewer in. Naturally, my curiosity brought me to Bollywood and my enjoyment of the dance musicals, the uplifting and motivating story telling added to my curiosity and interest in Indian culture, has kept me tuned in.
So, these days I will enjoy at least a couple Bollywood movies a week with a mix of them coming from Hulu and Netflix. In addition, I will often buy a few songs (or the soundtrack) from the movies off ITunes, so usually when I’m jamming away at work or home its to Bollywood musical numbers. Some would call it an addiction, while others would call it weird (especially a guy enjoying musical numbers), but I call it being open to what the world has to offer and exploring it while having a good time.
That’s it for this blog. But as an added treat, I’ve listed below links to some of my favorite Bollywood musical numbers so check them out.
Alisha - Pyaar Impossible film
Sadka Kiya - I Hate Luv Storys film
Pump it up - Chance Pe Dance film
Bachna Ae Haseeno - Bachna Ae Haseeno film
Jogi Mahi - Bachna Ae Haseeno film
Desi Girl - Dostana film
All Izz Well - 3 Idiots film
So I decided to count up how many Bollywood films I have seen. First of all, from the Netflix, 74 via instant watch and 46 via the mail. Then you have to add in the 2 I have seen in theaters (Anjaana Anjaani and Action Replayy) and the 4 I own (Chalte Chalte, Asambhav, Drona, and Bhoothnath) and that comes to a total of 126, not counting the new one I just got today from Netflix called Dabangg. Wow! I have seen a lot. Though that pales in comparison to how many that have been made in the lifetime of Bollywood, so I’ve got some catching up to do.
So what drew me to Bollywood films in the first place? Well, I have enjoyed foreign films and television series for a number of years, mostly from countries like Great Britain (the Office, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Coupling, the Man who sued God, etc.), France (Brotherhood of the Wolf), Japan (Bleach, Gintama, Initial D, La Corda d’Oro, etc.), Thailand (Ongbak, the Bodyguard, the Protector, etc.), China (Exiled, Triad Election, the Drummer, etc.), and Korea (Soo). So it was inevitable that I would check out a film or two from India since I seemed to be on an ‘international film watching tour’ of the Eastern world in 2010.
My first movie was Pyaar Impossible. I stumbled upon this one by happenstance. The previous film I had watched (via instant watch) was a Hollywood crime thriller called Rampage. The film was a dark and scary look into a man who had finally had enough with how bad life had treated him that he decided to go on a killing rampage through a small town armed to the teeth with semi-automatic weapons and a home-made bulletproof vest. Wow that was depressing. I thought it was a good, hard look at how far some can fall, but after watching it, I really felt the need for a good, cheerful movie. So that began my quest to peruse Netflix instant watch listings.
I started with the foreign section as I needed a non-American movie. So as I scrolled through the highlighted sections Netflix gives you like Suggestions for You, Dramas, New Arrivals, etc., I saw a mix of horror and drama films that didn’t real appeal to my mood at the time and decided I was looking for something new and that's when curiosity showed me the way. As I got about mid-way down through the suggestions on the main foreign section, a category on the right-hand side of the foreign section where it breaks the main category into sub-sections like Action, Classics, Comedy, etc., caught my attention. It was Bollywood. At the time I did not realize I was entering a world of film that was far different than I could ever imagine.
Pyaar impossible was the first film in the section of Bollywood at the time and had a simple premise that has been done before a million times over: geek pursues beauty. With it being a romantic comedy in which the hero will naturally face all kinds of obstacles with humorous turnouts and eventually get the girl, it was down my alley. So I went for it. About four and half minutes into the film, I was caught off-guard when it shifted from the main character narrating to suddenly a musical number. It was not simply music in the background, but rather it was used to give background on the hero and heroine by having them along with the minor characters singing and dancing in various scenes, which goes on for roughly four minutes (about the length of a music video). To be honest, I’m not a fan musicals and would normally have been turned away at that point, but something was different. The mix of the singing in Hindi, the alluring beauty of the heroine dancing (Priyanka Chopra), and the energetic and uplifting beats of the music took me straight to cloud nine. The shift to musical dance numbers happened several times throughout the film and as I quickly found out after watching more and more Bollywood films, is the iconic marker of them.
After watching a few more films, I founded myself really enjoying them even though many of them range from 2 ½ hours to 3 hours and sometimes longer. It quickly became quite a treat for me as I not only enjoyed the stories, the musical numbers with the mix of dancing and singing in Hindi, but also learning bits and pieces about Indian culture, something I knew very little of. I soon realized that with a lot of Bollywood films you will see the Indian culture (such as daily traditions, marriage customs, clothing, etc.) at the heart of what makes the stories come alive and draw the viewer in. Naturally, my curiosity brought me to Bollywood and my enjoyment of the dance musicals, the uplifting and motivating story telling added to my curiosity and interest in Indian culture, has kept me tuned in.
So, these days I will enjoy at least a couple Bollywood movies a week with a mix of them coming from Hulu and Netflix. In addition, I will often buy a few songs (or the soundtrack) from the movies off ITunes, so usually when I’m jamming away at work or home its to Bollywood musical numbers. Some would call it an addiction, while others would call it weird (especially a guy enjoying musical numbers), but I call it being open to what the world has to offer and exploring it while having a good time.
That’s it for this blog. But as an added treat, I’ve listed below links to some of my favorite Bollywood musical numbers so check them out.
Alisha - Pyaar Impossible film
Sadka Kiya - I Hate Luv Storys film
Pump it up - Chance Pe Dance film
Bachna Ae Haseeno - Bachna Ae Haseeno film
Jogi Mahi - Bachna Ae Haseeno film
Desi Girl - Dostana film
All Izz Well - 3 Idiots film
Saturday, January 29, 2011
3D: A fad or not?
I’m pretty sure you have heard the term fad and 3D mentioned in the same sentence before. So, I ask how can people call it a fad when it’s been around for several decades and is getting better with each iteration? (History of 3D film).
Well, that is because some don’t realize it has a history and continues to evolve as technology gets better. First you had the red-blue (or red-green) paper glasses. These had red film over the right eye and blue/green film over the left eye which gave a viewer an impression that images popped out of the screen, but you could only see these movies in certain venues. Then over time, engineers brought us shutter glass technology. With it, we saw an added depth effect to the images on the screen giving a noticeable separation between foreground and background scenes. However like red-blue paper glasses, it remained exclusive to certain venues. With the time lag between technology improvements and the added exclusiveness of 3D films to large venues, this has kept viewing limited to seldom occasions making it feel more like a novelty rather than an evolving technology.
It has only been in the last few years that the once exclusive IMAX experience began expanding to homes. Companies now are not only on board with producing more mainstream cinema in 3D format, but more importantly have brought the 3D technology to the everyday consumer. The current trend (more than 30 3D films in 2011) is that companies will continue to do so because when you consider the popularity and success of 3D-shot movies like Avatar and A Christmas Carol, more in the entertainment industry are exploring the advantage of 3D in improving the viewer’s experience. Some of those include: Sports Illustrated videos, 3D TV, and ESPN 3D.
There are of course those that do not believe it adds anything to the viewer’s experience. I would beg to differ because from my personal experience both in IMAX theaters and in my home (I own a Sony Bravia 55HX800), 3D adds to the mood and realism of the movie. For example, in A Christmas Carol (the Jim Carrey version), you really see the ‘pop-out’ effect in the the snowy scenes because its looks like snow is actually falling right in your living room almost real enough to touch it. Take that same effect and apply it to the Ring and that movie would get a lot scarier. Now of course imagine that same 3D effect on the aforementioned movie without special glasses and you might just have to fast forward through those scenes in which the girl is coming out of the television because it might be a little too real.
Along side the pop-out effects which come and go throughout any 3D movie, in every scene of a movie there is the noticeable visual distance between the foreground and the background scenes providing a real sense of seeing live video rather than just a recorded scene in a movie. This is especially great for movies about wildlife in the sea because the underwater scenes in 3D give a sense of swimming with the fishes with no scuba gear required.
So, is 3D a fad? No, it’s still here and its going to stay. At one time when it first came out and during the transition between red-blue paper glasses and shutter glasses, it might have seemed that way. However, that was for two reasons: technology had to catch up with our ideas and more importantly, it was not available for the general public to own in their homes. Technology is always going to be at least a step behind our imagination, but with it available to the consumer, we have reached an important milestone. Hopefully in the next few years, we can overcome the hurdle of making glasses more affordable so that 3D can be a large group activity rather than for small gatherings.
Well, that is because some don’t realize it has a history and continues to evolve as technology gets better. First you had the red-blue (or red-green) paper glasses. These had red film over the right eye and blue/green film over the left eye which gave a viewer an impression that images popped out of the screen, but you could only see these movies in certain venues. Then over time, engineers brought us shutter glass technology. With it, we saw an added depth effect to the images on the screen giving a noticeable separation between foreground and background scenes. However like red-blue paper glasses, it remained exclusive to certain venues. With the time lag between technology improvements and the added exclusiveness of 3D films to large venues, this has kept viewing limited to seldom occasions making it feel more like a novelty rather than an evolving technology.
It has only been in the last few years that the once exclusive IMAX experience began expanding to homes. Companies now are not only on board with producing more mainstream cinema in 3D format, but more importantly have brought the 3D technology to the everyday consumer. The current trend (more than 30 3D films in 2011) is that companies will continue to do so because when you consider the popularity and success of 3D-shot movies like Avatar and A Christmas Carol, more in the entertainment industry are exploring the advantage of 3D in improving the viewer’s experience. Some of those include: Sports Illustrated videos, 3D TV, and ESPN 3D.
There are of course those that do not believe it adds anything to the viewer’s experience. I would beg to differ because from my personal experience both in IMAX theaters and in my home (I own a Sony Bravia 55HX800), 3D adds to the mood and realism of the movie. For example, in A Christmas Carol (the Jim Carrey version), you really see the ‘pop-out’ effect in the the snowy scenes because its looks like snow is actually falling right in your living room almost real enough to touch it. Take that same effect and apply it to the Ring and that movie would get a lot scarier. Now of course imagine that same 3D effect on the aforementioned movie without special glasses and you might just have to fast forward through those scenes in which the girl is coming out of the television because it might be a little too real.
Along side the pop-out effects which come and go throughout any 3D movie, in every scene of a movie there is the noticeable visual distance between the foreground and the background scenes providing a real sense of seeing live video rather than just a recorded scene in a movie. This is especially great for movies about wildlife in the sea because the underwater scenes in 3D give a sense of swimming with the fishes with no scuba gear required.
So, is 3D a fad? No, it’s still here and its going to stay. At one time when it first came out and during the transition between red-blue paper glasses and shutter glasses, it might have seemed that way. However, that was for two reasons: technology had to catch up with our ideas and more importantly, it was not available for the general public to own in their homes. Technology is always going to be at least a step behind our imagination, but with it available to the consumer, we have reached an important milestone. Hopefully in the next few years, we can overcome the hurdle of making glasses more affordable so that 3D can be a large group activity rather than for small gatherings.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Welcome to my world.
Welcome to HUB, my first blog and the first post. I've thought about it a lot and decided that I wanted to say more to the world than I could fit in 140 characters when tweeting. This is a blog that has no particularly direction other than to provide to the world a glimpse into my experiences (human), my thoughts (understanding), and my interests (being).
So who am I? Professionally, I'm a software developer. Personally, I'm a fan of a lot....and I do mean a lot. From post to post I will talk about a wide range of topics including: 3D, gaming, bollywood, movies, books, recent events, and whatever else pops into my head.
At this point, you might be wondering, why should you read this? Well, should is a strong word so I won't say you should read this for any reason. I will say you might want to read this if you are the type of person who enjoys learning new things or is looking to simply pass the time. Whatever may have brought you here, I hope you enjoy your stay. And of course, feel free to comment. Negative comments hurt my feelings as I take much in life personal and positive comments make me feel good for the same reason. But never let that stop you from posting either because all are welcome.
Expect a new post at least once a week.
So who am I? Professionally, I'm a software developer. Personally, I'm a fan of a lot....and I do mean a lot. From post to post I will talk about a wide range of topics including: 3D, gaming, bollywood, movies, books, recent events, and whatever else pops into my head.
At this point, you might be wondering, why should you read this? Well, should is a strong word so I won't say you should read this for any reason. I will say you might want to read this if you are the type of person who enjoys learning new things or is looking to simply pass the time. Whatever may have brought you here, I hope you enjoy your stay. And of course, feel free to comment. Negative comments hurt my feelings as I take much in life personal and positive comments make me feel good for the same reason. But never let that stop you from posting either because all are welcome.
Expect a new post at least once a week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)