Thoughts

1) Remember when I had intended to embark on a "Crazy Nikhat Month" earlier this year (yeah, that totally happened), and I had asked you guys to suggest crazy disturbing but essential movies for me to watch? Josh had recommended Dogtooth and Alps, both directed by Greek director Yorgos Lanthinos. Even though I gave up on this month after Eraserhead (yikes!), I did watch both of Lanthinos's films and really liked them. Last week, it was announced that he is going to make his first English feature called The Lobster. The synopsis is really interesting-

"An unconventional love story set in a dystopian near future where single people, according to the rules of the Town, are arrested and transferred to the Hotel. There they are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days. If they fail, they are transformed into an animal of their choosing and released into the woods. A desperate Man escapes from the Hotel to the Woods where the Loners live and there he falls in love, although it’s against their rules."

The cast also is very impressive. Jason Clarke, Ben Whishaw, Lea Seydoux, Olivia Coleman, Ariane Labed and Angeliki Papoulia are all going to star in the film. Here is what the director had to say about the film-

"The Lobster is a story about love, without being a conventional love story. It observes the ways and reasons certain people come together to form couples, while others don’t. It is a story about the terrifying effects of solitude, the fear of dying alone, the fear of living alone and, above all, the fear of living with someone. Forcing ourselves to like someone is one kind of suffering; trying to find someone we really like is a different sort of suffering. The Lobster tries to discover synonyms for love in words such as fear, norms, deadlines, matching, synchronicity, naivety, prosperity and lies."

2) Is it me or are there suddenly a lot of biopics being announced? There is the Stephen Frear's helmed Lance Amstrong biopic with Ben Foster in the lead role. There is already an official image that has been released. The film also stars Chris O'Dowd, Guillaume Canet and Breaking Bad's creeptastic Jesse Plemons. Next, Tom Hardy will play Elton John in Rocketman. Did anyone see this coming? I honestly did not. It is being written by Billy Elliot's writer Lee Hall and has been described as a bigraphical musical fantasy with hyper-visuals and a non-linear storyline. But with Hardy joining this project, he has had to drop out of a few. Everest, which is going to be directed by Doug Liman, earlier had Hardy playing climber George Mallory but now that he has dropped out, Benedict Cumberbatch is in talks to be the replacement. And for the role of George Finch, actors such as James McAvoy, Tom Hiddleston, Henry Cavill, Dan Stevens, Matthew Goode and Jim Sturgess and a couple of others are being considered. All I can say is wowsers, this might become my dream movie! All the beautiful British men unite! Finally, Emile Hirsch is going to play John Belushi in a biopic about the doomed comedian. It will be directed by Steve Conrad who wrote The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Again, I did not expect that but I do love Hirsch and he needs to come in more movies.

3) So Tim Burton had finally gotten back into everyone's good graces with the announcement of Big Eyes, but alas, it wasn't to last. He is going to make a sequel to Beetlejuice that will be set 26 years after the original. WHYYYYYYY?!!!!!! Michael Keaton has already agreed to star. The only way I can condone this movie is if Burton casts Winona Ryder too. She was the all-black-wearing morbid heart and soul of the first one and I have been waiting for her comeback for forever. Do it, Burton!

4) Craig Roberts is going to star in 22 Jump Street, the sequel to the surprisingly fun 21 Jump Street 2012 remake. Both Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill are returning to reprise their roles and this time around, they will be going undercover to a college. I adored Roberts in Submarine and Skins: Rise so this is good news.

5) Woody Allen's next film is going to be called Magic in the Moonlight.  There isn't much info on it yet except that it is set in the south of Fraance, it is a romcom which spans 20 years, presumably during the 20s and 30s. The cast is led by Colin Firth and Emma Stone and also stars Marcia Gay Harden and Jacki Weaver. The first official image has been released and I must say, all of this looks very promising. Stone seems perfectly suited to be a comic lead in Woody's movies and here's hoping this isn't another Jesse Eisenberg-To Rome With Love deal. I still haven't seen Blue Jasmine because India is a crazy place but yes, Woody forever.

6) They found a new Christian Grey! I don't know why I have this need to keep posting about this movie but the whole thing still seems so unlikely, I just want to see where they go with it. Anyways, Jamie Dornan will play the complicated perv and True Blood's Luke Grimes will play his brother. I actually really approve of both these casting choices. If anything, I will watch this movie for hot men and these two totally are. Dornan played Kirsten Dunst's sexy beau in Marie Antoinette and Grimes plays the dreamy vampire James in True Blood.

7) Sherlock series 3 will come out on January 19th, 2014. CURSESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!! So much waiting :'(

8) So Paul McCartney's new video is fucking bonkers. Not only is it shot in Abbey Road studios, but it has like a million famous people. They just keep coming!

a) Johnny Depp needs to start looking sexy in his films again because that man has the bone structure of a god.

b) Meryl Streep is the bestest.

c) Chris Pine looks so happy just to be there. Seriously, this-

He's like an introvert trying to socialise at a cool party. One of us! One of us!

9) Pixar's next, The Good Dinosaur, has a first poster out. It *is* very Dreamworks-y, but whatever, I love Pixar. The story is set in a sort of alternative universe where the meteors that destroyed the dinosaurs actually never came and the dinosaurs are still there and they have become farmers and are trying to kill little bugs on their land, which are actually cavemen. Dawww.

10) The next Across the Universe Podcast episode will be the first time we have a guest on. Ryan from The Matinee will be our first visitor from across the universe, so to speak. We will be talking about our Favourite Music-related Movies (excluding musicals). We would love to hear some of yours which we will mention in the episode depending on the amount of responses we get. Do comment below!

11) Trailers- The teaser to Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor" is finally here! It literally just teases and gives nothing away but god, I missed Eleven :( Zac Efron, Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan and Imogen Poots star in The Awkward Moment. It's a rather random red-band trailer to a rather random movie but I have a new-found appreciation for Efron so I shall give it a go. The Immigrant boasts of a very incredible cast- Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix and Jeremy Renner. The period settings don't hurt either. The trailer is interesting enough. X-Men: Days of Future Past finally has a trailer out. First of all, the Hans Zimmer score in the trailer, though setting its mood in everyway, isn't really a good thing. Ask Man of Steel. That worked for the Dark Knight trilogy and I am scared that Bryan Singer might end up Nolan-ifying this. Why can't everyone just be happy? Secondly, I am actually very skeptical about this film. It has a tad too many people, like 5 normal ensembles in one and I don't know how well Singer can pull it off. Thirdly, I will *obviously* watch this film because McFassyMan or McManBender or whatever you call it but I am not keeping my hopes up for you know, the story and execution and all that important stuff. Just give me the gorgeous men. In direct contrast to this, I actually think Captain America: The Winter Soldier looks great. The first film was unique with its period settings and I think this one will also be unconventional due to the spy and government angle. And then there is THIS. God bless Tumblr. My favourite trailer this week is actually not a real trailer at all, but I wish it was! The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders is just perfect. I love Edward Norton.

12) I know I have already spoken about Masters of Sex but I saw its opening credits for the first time today and they are fucking fantastic! They are probably my favourite since True Blood. Everyone please watch the show. All the actors are just killing it.

13) Finally, God bless Tumblr x 1000000000000000000-

Everyone who read it in the original Mean Girl voices are as cool as Glen Coco!

Everyone who tried to imagine the Game of Thrones actors saying the lines just got punched in the face by Regina George!

Byeeeeeeeee.

Dream Actors I Want to See Star in Wes Anderson Films

       Hello people! As you may have figured out, I am a bit out of ideas for the blog. Anna was kind enough to suggest this idea to me on Twitter and here I am!

          With the recently released poster and trailer for Wes Andersons highly anticipated eighth feature, The Grand Budapest Hotel, everyone's been buzzing about the filmmaker and the incredible cast he has amassed for the film. There are a number of new names there, none more impressive and frankly perfect as that of Ralph Fiennes. I have been going a bit crazy about it all and therefore Anna suggested that I should make my own list of dream actors that I would like to see in a Wes Anderson movie.

         I must say that I took the idea up rather excitedly and got 31 names the first time. I have narrowed the list down to 14 actors, who I have chosen for many reasons such as curiosity, intuition or maybe just their looks.

Honourable mentions: Mark Ruffalo because who doesn't want to see a Brothers Bloom reunion, Joaquin Phoenix because who doesn't want to see him in everything ever, and Emily Blunt because she's adorable and sexy.

The obvious one

Johnny Depp

If you recall, there was a rumour that had started about Johnny Depp starring in The Grand Budapest Hotel. I had become very excited because this would have been exactly the kind of role Depp needed to get out of this awful weird-character-blockbuster muck he's been stuck in. Unfortunately, it all ended up being totally untrue and while I am more than happy about Fiennes, I do still want a Depp-Anderson collaboration to take place. Before Depp became a big star, he was the guy who starred in interesting off-beat films and made a name for himself. A film with Anderson would be a return to such films for him. And yes, some of us do think that Depp should put his eccentric side to rest but even at their most quirky, Wes Anderson characters have very human aspects to them, and I think Depp still has enough talent left in him to play someone like that.

The curious cases

Marion Cotillard, Daniel Day Lewis

Ralph Fiennes is usually considered a dramatic actor but anyone who has watched In Bruges and, well, the trailer of The Grand Budapest Hotel, know that he has the most surprising comic side to him. Cotillard and Day-Lewis are two actors whose comedic side I would really like to see. The former has mentioned in interviews that she would like to do something funny and I think she has the kind of beauty that would work really well in a Wes Anderson movie. And as for the latter, I have only ever seen him play very serious roles and considering what a great actor he is and just how sweet he seems in real life, I am very curious to see how he would tackle something lighter. As mentioned above, Anderson's movies are a unique blend of quirky and dark and actors such as these two can do wonders.

The ones I think will just belong- males

Michael Shannon, Christoph Waltz

Right? There is something about Shannon, in spite of his towering figure and crazy eyes, that I can see fitting in a Wes Anderson movie. I mean even though he usually plays somewhat scary characters, he kind of makes me laugh because of the slight confused expression he always has on his face and I think that's interesting. As for Waltz, I think he'll be perfect. Think about Willem Defoe's character in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and try telling me that Waltz wouldn't have been cast in that role if the film had been made after his big Hollywood breakout. His dialogue delivery, comic timing and general awesomeness will really work in a Wes Anderson movie.

The ones I think will just belong- females

Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence

The American Hustle girls! But seriously, I think both of these women can do the sexy, lonely, misunderstood, deadpan thing that the female characters in Wes Anderson movies have. In case of Adams, firstly think about her hair and how it will look in the Wes Anderson colour palate. Next is the fact that she can do both funny and icy really well and that combination can work wonders. As for Lawrence, Tiffany in Silver Linings Playbook when she's not being manic is pretty much a female character from a Wes Anderson film. I think she has that down.

My Brit obsessions

Daniel Radcliffe, Arthur Darvill

I am loving Radcliffe's career choices so far and it will be great if he gets to work with someone as brilliant as Anderson. I think he's talented enough and then there is also his height. Honestly, I just thought of Jason Schwartzman in Rushmore and Tony Revolori in The Grand Budapest Hotel and then came to the conclusion that DanRad will fit right in. That's how my brain works. As for Darvill, he has a natural quirkiness and oddness to him and he can be very funny very effortlessly and I think he would do great in a Wes Anderson film. Also, I think both of them can embody the struggling genius motif that runs through many of Anderson's films pretty well.

The Indians

Kalki Koechlin, Nimrat Kaur

One of my favourite things about Wes Anderson is his affinity towards India. He has set a film in India and has worked Indian actors like the late great Kumar Pallana, Waris Ahluwalia and the amazing Irrfan Khan (something I had forgotten because he was in this list earlier). So I really wanted to include Indian actors. However, the problem with Bollywood actors, which is more my area of expertise, is that they tend to overplay while acting which just won't work. Having said that, there are a number of Indian actors who do have the kind of subtlety that will be better suited to an Anderson film. Koechlin just has such a unique look (thanks to her part-Indian-part-French heritage) that I think she will be brilliant in a Wes Anderson movie. Kaur, on the other hand, has a very Indian look. She's obviously beautiful but she isn't as glamorous as the other Bollywood actresses and so if anyone was to play a real Indian woman, she would be perfect. And both of them are fantastic actors of course.

I just really really want to know what this will be like

Woody Allen, Diane Keaton

I know what you're thinking but let me explain. The moment this crazy idea came into my head, I tried to brush it away as something totally mental but it just kind of stuck along with a big "What if..." Just try and imagine Allen and Keaton as directed by Wes Anderson. Don't you want to watch that? I sure do.

The eyessssssssssssssssssssss

James McAvoy
McAvoy has the most ridiculous blue eyes on the planet, which is something everyone knows. Now all I want is to see them in a Wes Anderson movie with the Wes Anderson colours. Come on, you know you want it too...

       So that's it! Thanks once again to Anna. I hope you all liked this. Or not. It's perfectly alright. Tell me in the comments below how good my chances are of becoming a casting director :)

Across the Universe Podcast: Episode 12

Episode 12: Awkward Movie Viewing Moments

This week, Mette, Sofia and I look at some of our most embarrassing and/or weirdest moments while watching movies.

I must also apologise for the terrible sound on my side. I bought a new headset in hopes of becoming louder but that obviously backfired. Apart from that little problem, I do hope you like our episode.

Content:

0:19- Chick-chatter

2:55- Trailers

3:42- Interesting Movie of the Fortnight

32:38- The chicks share their Top 3 Awkward Movie Viewing Moments

1:07:15- Plugs and Goodbyes

Songs:

Lord Kitchener "London Is the Place For Me"
Josh Houde "The Awkward Song"
Jim Sturgess "Across The Universe"

Follow us at: facebook.com/acrosstheuniversepodcast
Write to us at: acrosstheuniversepodcast@gmail.com
Find us on iTunes: search for Across the Universe Podcast

Download episodes from: Our Dropbox page

The article I plugged in the episode- Alcohol, Withnail and Gary King

"Why do you want to be a lobby boy?" "Who wouldn't at the Grand Budapest, sir?"

It's here!! The gorgeous and absolutely delightful first trailer of Wes Anderson's next, The Grand Budapest Hotel, has released and lawd, I love it! It looks quite comical but all of Anderson's movies have a deeper, darker undercurrent to them so I am curious as to what that is in this particular case. Like, just look at Harvey Keitel's character. Eeeeep!

Things I loved in the trailer-

 Funny leading man Ralph Fiennes is absolutely awesome.

Tilda Swinton's old lady makeover.

Everything about this.

 It's a bit redundant to mention this but the colours. I mean, so pretty.

The effing cast.

Also, RIP Kumar Pallana.

I cannot wait for this movie. Even the Wes Anderson films I don't love, and I love most of them, have a lot to love in them and here's hoping The Grand Budapest Hotel is as splendid as the trailer. March 7th, 2014 cannot come soon enough.

The trailer-

PS- I practically screencapped the entire trailer. This is nothing.

IT'S A PINK HOTEL! IT'S A PINK HOTEL!

The first poster of Wes Anderson's next, The Grand Budapest Hotel has just hit the web and god, it is gorgeous! His last film, Moonrise Kingdom, had one of my most favourite posters of all time and this too is something out of a dreamland or, well, Wes Anderson-land. And my goodness, look at the cast! I just finished Anderson's filmography today itself with The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and I am totally pumped for this. 

It's just so pretty. I'm already in love with this film.

Thoughts

Hiiii guys!! Let's just get down to my thoughts this week-

1) So remember how I talked about an inter-year drama competition in my college in the last thoughts post? Well, guess whose play grabbed the best play, best director, best actor and best supporting actor prizes?! All the hard work and body aches and lack of sleep paid off splendidly on the day of the competition and we did win ALL OF THE AWARDS (except technical but that's all cool).

All the years of winning academic prizes (nerd alert) have not made me as happy as getting this, which I got along with my co-director Garima. 21 is going pretty great so far :)

2) Charlie Hunnam dropped out of the 50 Shades movie. Hehehehehehehee. Yeah, this movie is totes going to happen.

3) Speaking of the "other" sex movie that I can't seem to quite make up my mind about, Nymphomaniac has released possibly my favourite character posters of all time. I love it. I love it for the same reason I love the opening scene of Marie Antoinette. I think von Trier is daring us to mock him and it is awesome. Just look at those faces. He and the film's publicity team totally know what people think the film will be like and they're giving it to them. LET THERE BE PUN-Y HEADLINES!

4) Matt Smith has officially stepped down as the Doctor *sniff* and is now going to play none other than Patrick Bateman in the American Psycho musical. This leaves me with conflicted feelings because as happy as I am for Smith and have full faith in his acting and singing abilities, an American Psycho musical just sounds like sacrilege of the highest kind. Like superior business card + dinner reservation at Dorsia X 100000000 BAD!!! Why are they making this musical at all? Apparently there's some song where people gyrate about brands or something. What?! But still, go Matt Smith!! :/ :/

5) One of my most anticipated films currently in production has a release date now. The Fault in Our Stars, the film based on John Green's amazing novel, starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort will release on 6th June, 2014. I am super duper excited for this film. In related news, the director of last year's beautiful The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky and the writers of The Spectacular Now (which stars Woodley) and (500) Days of Summer, Michael H. Webber and Scott Neustadter will team up to make While We're Young. This is based Adena Halpern's book 29 about a woman in her seventies who gets to become to her twenty-something self for one day. It will star Emma Watson who was in Perks. I think it sounds amazing. These are a group of extremely talented people who are more than capable, as we have seen, of showing incredible stories onscreen. I am looking forward to the movie a lot.

6) Benedict Cumberbatch is all over the place! He was voted Sexiest Male Movie Star by Empire Magazine (Miss Watson got the title in her sex). His interview on Reddit was awesomesauce. I mean, he talked about his, Matt Smith's and Hiddles's cheekbones! If I ever write a book on bone structure, those three will be part of the Holy Trinity of Cheekbones (I'm a little obsessed with cheekbones if you weren't aware...). He also came on the Graham Norton Show with none other than Harrison Ford. My favourite thing though was his "Rickman-Off" with Jimmy Fallon-

Simple joys of life.

7) Following the news of Elizabeth Olsen joining the cast of The Avengers: Age of Ultron as the Scarlet Witch, we now know that Aaron Johnson will play her onscreen brother, Quicksilver. I'm pretty happy about this. I like Johnson as an actor and I really hope there's a nice scene where all the male superheroes get shirtless. Well, Johnson and Chris Evans at least.

8) I know I don't usually talk about any television shows (except Doctor Who and Sherlock of course) but I have been watching a number of shows that I just feel like sharing my thoughts on. First of all, this season of American Horror Story is going to be awesomeness itself. I loved the first episode "Bitchcraft". The name alone gave me unimaginable joy but what a fantastic episode and ZOMG what a cast! Of course the older actresses, Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates and Angela Basset are on fire, but I am very pleased with the entire ensemble. My only issue with this season is the lack of Zachary Quinto who would have made it so much more sassier and beautiful. Next, there is the Vampire Diaries spin-off The Originals, which I daresay is going to surpass, well, the original. It has all the hotness, crazy twists, zingy one-liners of The Vampire Diaries minus the annoying romantic drama. WIN! I'm really enjoying it. I literally just started watching Sleepy Hollow and that too is quite an entertaining show. It reminds me of Elementary a bit, but I do like the story and Tom Mison is pretty. Another new show that I am liking a lot is Masters of Sex. I mean, Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan in a period setting- 'nuff said. Finally, I would just like to mention that I was really distracted by Chris Pratt's obvious fitness throughout the season premier of Parks and Recreation. PROMINENT SEXY CHEEKBONES, OH MY!

9) Stevee's back!!!!!!!! Yaayyy! This also gives me the perfect opportunity to say that Jessica Chastain's Facebook statuses are among the things that make life worth living.

10) Posters- I still haven't watched Gravity :'( But do check out these spectacular fan posters. Even though I just professed my love for the Nymphomaniac character posters, I also really adore those of American Hustle. I would actually build an altar to the Amy Adams one. The posters of The Double are supremely cool and weird and I need this movie like now. I really like Oldboy's new poster. It's interesting and fans of the original will see a lot of familiar elements. The US poster of Blue is the Warmest Colour is very pretty too. A bit of a cliche to say it, but I do really love the colours in it. Conversely, I despise the Labour Day poster. Yes, just use the one official and rather boring image of your film so far as its poster without even trying to change it a teeny bit. Gahh.

11) Trailers- The only thought that kept going through my head while watching the Charlie Countryman trailer was that Ron is in a film with Mads Mikkelsen and Hugo Stiglitz! I can't quite give a shit about anything else in it, sorry. I couldn't even watch all of I, Frankenstein's trailer, soooo... Why Aaron Eckhart, why? The full trailer of Monuments Men has more Jean Dujardin, so yaay! And the full trailer of American Hustle made me even more excited about the Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence. Yes, Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner all also look great and will probably be excellent in the movie, but it's a total ladies show for me. The new trailer of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug gives me hope because a) I think they *will* show Thorin as more of a dick in this one, which he was in the book, b) I am totally going to get aroused by a CGI dragon's voice in this movie. Benedict, you beauty. I really liked the trailer of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit because hey, Chris Pine in a suit being all action hero-y! My priorities are so sorted. I think it will be a fun movie though, so there you go. 

12) Finally, I don't know how but I missed it when they announced that Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer are co-starring in Guy Richie's The Man from U.N.C.L.E. But goodness, look at the all-man gorgeousity-

The mind races.

This turned out to be quite a hormones-driven post. Sorry about that. Byeeeeee.

Across the Universe Podcast: Episode 11

Episode 11: Ground Control to Major Tom

Since EVERYONE is talking about Gravity, Sofia, Mette and I take up the topic of science fiction movies in this episode. We discuss three sci-fi classics that have been chosen by each of us and also talk about our Interesting Movie of the Fortnight.

This is one of our favourite recording experiences so far and we hope you like it too :)

Content:

0:33- Chick-chatter

3:37- Trailers

4:13- Interesting Movie of the Fortnight

24:43- The chicks discuss Blade Runner (1862)

40:23- The chicks discuss Sleeper (1973)

47:26- The chicks discuss 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

1:06:17- Plugs and Goodbyes

Songs:

David Bowie "Space Oddity"

Richard O'Brien "Science Fiction/Double Feature"

Jim Sturgess "Across The Universe"

Follow us at: facebook.com/acrosstheuniversepodcast
Write to us at: acrosstheuniversepodcast@gmail.com
Find us on iTunes: search for Across the Universe Podcast

The Month that was- September

     So September was something of a blur. The neverending exams finally ended, I started second year of college, I met Kalki Koechlin (!) and presently I feel like I've aged 30 years because of the drama competition. I had intended to watch a lot of movies but I could only manage 26 movies this month.

Firsts:

1) Kick-Ass 2- Rubbish. I really loved the first one but this one was dumb. Also, puke humour is not, like never ever, appreciated.

2) World War Z- I liked it a lot. The action was good, Brad Pitt was a decent protagonist, and the zombies genuinely scared me because I can't handle things suddenly jumping at me.

3) The Bling Ring- I discussed it on the last Across the Universe Podcast episode. LOVE Emma Watson.

4) The World's End- Not as great as the first two but still a solid ending to the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy.

5) The Kings of Summer- Even though it wasn't perfect, I enjoyed it a lot. It kind of made me want to be a boy.

6) A Royal Affair- Heartbroken thanks to Mads.

7) White House Down- Definitely the funnest stupid movie I've seen all year.

8) Camille- So Baz Luhrmann was definitely inspired by this when he was making Moulin Rouge!, yes? Anyways, really liked it and gosh, Robert Taylor was a hottie!

9) This is the End- Hilarious. Best ending of the year by a mile and a half.

10) Rush- Enjoyed it a lot. Daniel Bruhl was awesomesauce.

11) Days of Being Wild- I suddenly needed to watch some Wong kar-Wai. Maggie Cheung is so gorgeous.

12) Fallen Angels- Like I said. Definitely the most visual of the Wong kar-Wai's movies I've seen so far but a tad too frenzied.

13) Much Ado About Nothing- I thought it was excellent, and very pretty too.

14) The Lunchbox- One of the best films of the year and also among the finest Indian films I have ever seen. Just great.

15) Sleeper- The first of Woody's early comedies for me. So unexpected and awesome.

16) Prisoners- Very intriguing and engaging. Fine performances all around with Gyllenhaal taking the cake.

Rewatches:

1) The Shawshank Redemption- My go-to soul upliftment movie.

2) Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day- Remember how I went cray cray for this and British Lee Pace last month? Well, a friend gifted the film to me after all that and then I made a class full of males-deprived girls watch it because I'm evil like that :D

3) Shaun of the Dead- One of the best movies ever, imo.

4) Hot Fuzz- One of the best sequels ever, imo.

5) Fish Tank- I realised that Fassy in this is probably my favourite cinematic asshole.

6) The Bling Ring- Had much more fun the second time. 

7) The World's End- Ditto. You start noticing all the Edgar Wright-ian details.

8) Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani- Another birthday gift! Ranbir Kapoor's sex eyes in this are deadly.

9) 2001: A Space Odyssey- I would love to watch a behind-the-scenes special on this. A visual marvel.

10) Blade Runner- Apparently Rick Deckard was a replicant? Whaaaaaat?!! Harrison Ford is totes my ultimate cinematic hunk.

TV Shows:

Breaking Bad, season 5- What can I say that hasn't already been said? I bade goodbye in my own little way to one of the greatest shows of our time. It's been quite a journey and I am glad it ended so satisfyingly. I will just mention that "Ozymandias" is among the best hours of television I have ever watched and I don't really know how to choose an MVP or a favourite quote, so I'm going to go with Jesse Pinkman's bitchin', "YEAH, BITCH!!! MAGNETS!!"

Books:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone- I forgot just how funny Fred and George are.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets- And Oliver Wood is awesome. His utter devotion to Quidditch is inspiring.

Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban- Reading this one after 10 years or something. The whole ending is much scarier in the book than in the movie.

Final tally:
                            Firsts- 139                       Rewatched- 61                      Shorts- 2
                                                                       Total- 202


October is here and my holidays are coming! I will try to watch a few horror movies but I am going in full Doctor Who-mode in preparation for the 50th Anniversary next month.