Wish List' 06

I am a self-confessed Movie buff.

And to put things into perspective, I was a bigger Movie buff when in college.
I could manage to watch all the crap that released every friday. Things I have watched, sent creep down my spine when I look back at them. From Govinda style comedies to even a couple of Mithun-starrers, I saw them all.

Well things change. Am now more selective. I dont force my senses to most of the crap nowadays. I prefer a couple of hours of sleep than to torture my sensibilies, whatever little I have.

It may sound contrived, but the way I see it, I feel the general standard of American movies are a few shades better than the regular Hindi stuff.

I agree they produce their own share of crap and real smelly ones at that.. but if you are to watch an average Hollywood movie, it wouldnt torture you as much.

And then there are the must watch ones.
I have this habit of maintaining a list of To-Watch movies. These are the movies that I heard enough to crave to watch them. I keep this list mostly in my mind,

But from time to time I write it down, since sometimes I gets soo long.

So here is a new edition of my Wish list:

1. Godfather III
Saw the first 2 parts of the acclaimed trilogy. The first one was amazing. Pure magic. I didnt appreciate the 2nd one as much. Lets see how does the third concludes the story.

2. Braveheart
It is still on my wishlist. Been there for the last 4-5 years. Have somehow manages to avoid watching it all this time, even though its so easy to rent its DVD.

3. Reservoir Dogs
4. Kill Bill I/II
For someone who loved Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, its natural to want to watch his other movies.

5. Roshomon

Never been exposed to Kurosawa's movie making. Want to be initiated with this one. And the topping here is the interesting concept of unreliable narration.

6. Blue/White/Red : The Three Colours Trilogy
Kieslowski. Another of the all time greats. Yet to see any of his works.

7. Goodfellas
Martin Scorese's 1990 Mafia film is known as a classic. Incidentally all of Martin Scorese's greatest works have featured Robert DeNiro.. The only one of the collab I have seen is Taxi Driver which was a masterpiece.

8. Schindlers List
Steven Spieldberg at his prime. When it released, I was too young to watch this kind of cinema. I think its time to catch it now.

9. Raging Bull
Robert DeNiro fetched his Oscar for this one. Supposed to be biographical and talks of the life and times of a temperamental Boxer. Martin Scorese directs.

10. Amadeus
This one is relatively lesser-known in the list. It is a portrayal of Mozart and his life. Sounds boring.. but is supposedly not, with this one exploring the darker shades of the man. On the fate and irony of why a sinned man was blessed with the greatest gift in music.

11. Dances With Wolves
Kevin Costner directed his debut and got an Oscar. Rare indeed. Need to see for myself, how me managed that. :)

12. Munich
Well.. no masterpiece this one. Lets say, its a contemporary Spieldberg.. but thats a must watch too.

13. Lost in Translation
Yeah, havnt watched this one too. Just missed out on this one. Somehow, the title sounded too boring to me. :)

14. Eternal Sunshine of the spotless Mind
Cant say the same about this title. But then a Jim Carey movie is no more a must watch on its own. Though this one is that and much more. Is supposeded to be one of those rare movies when Jim Carey doesnt play an out and out dumber.

15. Adaptation
Nic Cage in dual role and a script that recurses... you read that right. I bet, the movie wouldnt be amazing fun to watch, but would be really different that anything I might have ever seen.

16. Clockwork Orange
Classic stuff.. read so much about this and ilk that it feels its time I did watch it.

17. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
I recently got exposes to the concept of Monty Python. Was pleasantly surprised to see that there ARE things left unexplored that are capable of immense fun.

18. Mulholand Drive / Lost Highway
David Lynch stuff. Genius of the 70s/80s. Never seen a frame he did. Time to catch up. :(

19. Seven
David Fincher did this one with Brad Pitt before he did FIGHT CLUB. Reason enough for a watch.

20. American History X
Ed Norton in supposedly his best work. :)

Dhola-Re-Dhani..

This sunday was an interesting one. Actually this weekend was in all nice..
After 1 long week, I had a respite this weekend.

Saturday, was all by myself at home and relaxed. Caught up a long over due movie as well 'Shawshank Redemption'. It features in a lot of people's top 5 fave movies. Not mine though.. but a great watch nonetheless..

Sunday, Ruhail calls up and we fix up a unplanned outing to Dhola-re-Dhani.. a rajasthani themed resort just outside of Hyd. It is based on similar lines as 'Choki Dhani', the one near Jaipur.

After ages, we left the city limits and truly had a nice time. See for yourselves:


We took a camel-ride..




So did Ruhail/Ekta



Posing over a bridge that overlooks a lake..



Us too...



hey.. am not the cart-puller.. even though thats what you imagined..


All four of us.. We did enjoy the place and each others' company



The girls somehow loved the carts, they got onto all of 'em..



Its a cart again here....




..and then their natural instincts took over...



Hope they get a chance to fill up in real life.. ~evil grin~



There were folk dance performances there.. not really my cuppa-tea..



Throughout we had amazing weather.. nice cool breeze sweeping through.. and palms swinging with it...

(BTW, my fave shot of the evening)

As it grew darker, the place looked a lot more interesting and colorful..



Whats on with these carts.... ???



... and yet again...they couldnt have enough of em..



In the twilight, the place looked magnificient...



Some experimental shots.. the color of these carts was fascinating..
ahem.. any comments on these ones?


Here again..


Folk singers holding court beneath a banyan tree...
(Correction, Neem tree.. ,-) )

We also had dinner on the building showing on the left.. There was chowki-system,
with all of us sitting on the floor and traditionally attired folks serving us with stuff like
Daal-baati-choorma, gatte ki zubji, kadhi, bajray ki khichdi (with a liberal helping of Ghee),malpua... rest I dont remember coz I had a hard time fending off the ghee spilling all over my thali..


We departed at 9:00 with lamps lighting up the place bright


So, thanks again to Ruhal and Ekta for making it such a nice and enjoyeable outing...
All I missed out there was a Beer.. :D