Musings From New York

What Happened to The Wachowski Brothers?

I was watching Matrix Revolutions - the conclusion to the oh-so-promising Matrix trilogy. It was the second time I've watched the movie: the first time was upon release. And as I watched it last night I couldn't help think, "What happened to the original script??" There is no way in hell that script was the original vision of the Wachowski Brothers. Consider the awesome conclusions reached at the end of Matrix Reloaded:

The "real world" is just an illusion created by the Matrix to control the opposing humans within the Matrix.

I mean, how cool is that? Why did they have to spoil that and give Neo Messiah-like powers ... the whole blind seer thing? Why? Why??

I think the Wachowski Brothers must've lsot the original script and scribbled something on the back of an napkin when they pitched the idea to Warner Studios. There's no other explanation: I refuse to believe that minds that came up with the concept & vision of The Matrix could have produced such a dud! There were some nice moments - the defense of Zion, and there's one shot where Neo is helped by the Machines to battle Smith inside the Matrix. As seen in "golden vision", the bright halo around Neo and the position of the wires around him transforms him into an angel. A nice touch. Nevertheless ...

If I had one wish in the world ... I would wish for a hundred more wishes, and then wish that Matrix Revolutions be remade.

Merry Christmas!

Ho ho ho!

In honor of the festive season, here's a recipie for Christmas Fruitcake that someone forwarded me (might be online at some site, I dunno!)

1 cup water
1 cup of sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups dried fruit
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar
lemon juice
nuts
1 gallon whiskey

Sample the whiskey to check for quality.
Take a large bowl.
Check the whiskey again to be sure it is of the highest quality.
Pour one level cup and drink.
Repeat.
Turn on the electric mixer; beat 1 cup butter  in a large, fluffy bowl. Add 1 teaspoon sugar and beat again.
Make sure the whiskey is still OK.
Cry another tup. Turn off mixer. Break 2 legs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit. Mix on the turner.
If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers,  pry it loose with a drewscriver.
Sample the whiskey to check for tonsisticity.
Next, sift 2 cups of salt. Or something, Who cares.
Check the whiskey.
Now sift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.
Add one table. Spoon. Of sugar or something. Whatever you can find.
Grease the oven. Turn the cake tin to 350 degrees.
Don't forget to beat off the turner.
Throw the bowl out of the window.
Check the whiskey again.
Go to bed.
Who the hell likes fruitcake anyway?

We Have A State Anthem?

According to ToI ... we do.

The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (8/10)

After seeing a totally kick-ass trailer on Apple Trailers, I was really looking forward to this movie. And I must say, it didn't disappoint. The action is top-notch, as is the plot with its twists & turns.

The premise is one that has built many a Hollywood action movie - especially Westerns (as an aside, why is it that Hollywood Westerns resonate so strongly with Japanese & Chinese movies? What is the common link?). Zatoichi is a blind samurai (d-uh!) that wanders into a village and is befriended by an old woman. Add to the woman's nephew looking for his identity (with hilarious consequences) and a pair of geishas (one's a transvestite) looking to avenge the murder of their parents a decade earlier. I could easily see an early Client Eastwood doing this movie, can't you?

One thing that struck me about the movie was the emphasis of sounds - Zatoichi is blind and relies of super-hearing (presumably, like Daredevil ... but I don't think the budget would've allowed any more SFX). As a result, the whole film visual takes backstage to the sounds of the movie. An example: when Zatoichi walks into the village, a group of farmers are hoeing their fields. At first I didn't understand why the film dwelt on the farmers for so long, but at a later point in the movie (during a torrential rainstorm), the farmers are dancing in the fields - and their feet make a squelching noise. Trust me, you gotta see the movie to understand what I'm talking about!

I did have a minor quibble - a lot of the action seemed to be out-of-context. There was a fight (for those who've seen the movie, it's the one where Zatoichi sliches the bamboo staff down the length, thereby chopping off the attackers thumb & fingers) ... and I had no idea if the fight was related to the plot, or if it was some sort of flashback ... I bulbed!

It's also a bit of a grisly movie (ref. the finger slicing above). And the fight scenes are defnitely shorter than what I'm used to. Hollywood movies always create these epic struggles where the hero gets the upper hand, loses it, regains it before slaying the boss villain. In this movie, I had to rewind and play back at a slow speed (almost frame-by frame) to figure out what happened! Of course, when you see what happens, your reaction is going to be "Ooooh! Cool!"

I highly recommend this movie to all!

Oceans 12 - A Sea Change (6/10)

Now a lot of people have the opinion that if one liked Oceans 11, one would also like Oceans 12 ... and if one didn't like Oceans 11, one wouldn't particularly enjoy Oceans 12.

I appear to be part of a third category - those that liked Oceans 11, but disliked Oceans 12. And judging by the reaction of my friends, I'm not the only one in this category.

In fairness, I'd have to say that the theater was not very good. We watched the movie in the Lowes Cinema on 47th & Broadway (i.e.: the one under the Virgin Megastore). I didn't really like the theater - the screen was too small for the dimensions of the hall, and the projector bulb must've been set on power-save mode or somthing, cos the movie was severly under-lit. I'm going to stay away from that theater as much as possible (unfortunately, it's also the only theater in Manhattan that screens Hindi movies).

Anyway, onto the movie.

I didn't like it. It was a confused mess of plot lines. Gone is the charm & wit & sophistication of Oceans 11. The sequel is made up too many threads trying to be woven. You have the Benedict money angle, the Night Fox (sounds like a DC Comics character, wot?) angle, the Rusty-Isabel (Brad Pitt and an oh-so-heartstopping Catherine Zeta-Jones) angle, and two heists. Two! The movie was ultimately stretched - plot-wise, and time-wise. The result: nobody gets enough screen time to amuse the audience, who are ultimately left wondering what the hell happened.

There were some funny moments - Julia Roberts' character, Tess, pretending to be Julia Roberts was quite funny - but ... and this is a general malaise of the whole movie ... she was given too little screen time. And she had to share it with Bruce Willis.

All-in-all, I feel disappointed by the movie. The movie's currently topping the box office (unlikely to contiue after this weekend's releases), hich just goes to show: there's no accounting for some people's tastes.

New York, New York

I flew back on Saturday night, by British Airways. It was a comfortable (suprisingly no turbulence) ... but in terms of entertainment & food, Virgin Airlines totally rocks. Especially entertainment - the flight over to the UK had video-on-demand with about ... oh, 50 movies!

I must admit: I was getting used to the quiet of the English countryside. It was somewhat jarring to be woken up by a garbage truck moving down the road at 1am! And Java was right when he told me this sumer that New York has a unique smell. Yes - smell!

And driving into NYC on Saturday night was an experience. I've never felt suffocated or claustrophobic before, but I sort of felt that way with all the tall buildings and skyscrapers.

England's ruined me.

Sigh.

The Last Photos of The World's End

The Magical Leaf: While I was in bed with a fever, I noticed this leaf outside my window. You'll see that there aren't any branches around it - it seems to be suspended in mid-air. At first, I thought it a fever-induced hallucination! I suppse it's held up by some cobweb.

 

Duck ... or Grouse!!: The entrance to the cottage is a little low-beamed. I guess people notice this when they're entering the house, but not when they're leaving. The sign is classic British humor, what? (for those who don't get it: a grouse is (a) a chicken-like game bird (b) a complaint or grumble. Work it out from there.

Homeward Bound

Yes, I'm headed back to New York this weekend, and will be there until the New Year (at least).

Pity, I was just starting to enjoy myself here in the UK. On the upside:

   
• Star Wars KOTOR II: The Sith Lords
   
   
• Halo 2
   
• Half Life 2

Sigh. So many games to play, so little time!

Homeward Bound

Been down with a cold/fever these last few days, so there hasn't been much activity on my end. In fact, I spent the entire weekend here in the cottage/office. Not fun, I can tell you. Cheap, but not fun!

Well, it wasn't so bad - watched quite a bit of TV, and a couple of DVDs. Nothing special.

On the home front, I guess I should be leaving around Christmas ... hopefully, Christmas Eve. Kiran mailed me to say he's coming down with his family for the Christmas weeknd, and I hope to be back to meet them.

Dad's coming in tonight, for the DCD Board Meeting, and leaving Monday (13th). I've taken Friday off, to have a long weekend in London.

I've got a couple of interesting photos to put up ... gotta wait for Kartik to come online first!

MSN's New Blog Service

Yeah, MSN has apparently come up with its own free blogging site - MSN Spaces. I signed up of course :-) I thought I'd test it out to see how it stacked up against Blogspot. A couple of things that struck me right away:

- The layout can be easily customized. This is one of two big grievances I have with Blogspot - the area for the blog entries is really cramped - it must make up about 40 or 50% of the screen, if that.

- Photos can be included in the blog entry. This is the other big grievance I have with Blogspot. I have to use a 3-rd party application to upload photos to my blog. That application is limited, meaning: it can only upload one photo at a time, and you can't create a "blog entry" (complete with hyperlinks, titles, etc.) and publish the whole thing. One has to upload the photo, enter Blogger, and edit the entry.

- One can categorize the entries in MSN Spaces. Apparently, a lot of blog sites offer this feature ... but most of those sites ain't free!

- On the downside ... I couldn't figure out if I can edit the HTML code behind my entry. Case in point, the entry I posted with the DC Marathon snaps - Kartik created a table in HTML and sent it across to me to upload. Since Blogger allows me to edit the HTML code, I was able to insert it and (somewhat properly) acheive the desired look. I don't know how many times I'll be doing that!

- Another entry in the con side ... the URL to the blog is a little complicated. Mine is http://spaces.msn.com/members/bloreboy ... doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, does it?!

- One main point yet to be resolved: how compliant is an MSN-run site with non-IE browsers, like Firefox. I opened the page in Firefox, and apart from a little time in waiting for a server response, it appeared alright, but who knows?!

MSN Spaces is still in beta, but with them making a public announcement about it, I think they're ready to go live any day now ... not too sure what they'll tweak till then.

It'll be interesting to see if Blogger fixes any of my gripes (I'm sure they're not uncommon) to prevent people from switching. The switching cost is pretty high for me, anyway - I've got 6 months' worth of posts here, and I can't figure out how to transfer them!