Thoughts

        Hi guys! Remember that time when I stopped writing these posts for like 3 months and then promised to never do so again and then did not write them for another month- yeahhhh... sorry about that. I am kind of out of ideas about what to do for this blog. Do you guys have anything that you might want to see me tackle (probably badly but still)? Help, I'm useless.

1) Sofia Coppola is going to direct the live-action adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid (and not the Disney one)! YAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY! I literally cannot imagine what this will be like, apart from the gorgeous cinematography *obviously*, and that's kind of awesome. Coppola is such a feminine director and I am really psyched to see what she does with the story. It's based on the original story, i.e., the one with the sad ending and the script is by the writers of 50 Shades of Grey and Shame so that's, er, interesting.

2) So Marvel has apparently lined up movies till 2028. What the fuck?! That's total madness. I'm sorry that I'm an age freak but I'll be 36 then and it's disturbing to think that even though I have no idea where I will be or what I will be doing (hopefully Ryan Gosling- BA DUM TSS) at that point in my life, I *know* that I will be watching Marvel movies then. I can't even imagine what the world will be like in 2028. Just UGH!

3) Pixar is going to make The Incredibles 2 and Cars 3. Even though I was initially pissed off about the former (not even going to address the latter- your mess, Pixar), I heard that Brad Bird is the one making it and then thought about how Pixar DID make the Toy Story trilogy and now I'm on board. Also, even though I forgot to add her, Edna Mode was one of my honourable mentions in Sati's spin-off blogathon because I would love a film just about her. She better return. #nocapes

4) The sequel to Magic Mike is going to be called Magic Mike XXL and I love it. Duh. They haven't finalised the cast yet but going by my recent Google searches, I would like Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Ryan Gosling, Matthew Goode, Jack O' Connell, Xavier Samuel, Rodrigo Santoro, Daniel Sharman, Fassy, the twins from Teen Wolf and so on. Anyone would actually do because the first film made me like people like Alex Pettyfer and it was also the beginning of McConaissance for me. Just let there be some good ol' fashioned male stripping and you have my money (in singles. Duh).

5) Almost casting news- David Fincher wants Christian Bale to star in the Steve Jobs movie that Aaron Sorkin wrote. I dig this. Ryan Gosling might be producing and starring in a Busby Berkeley biopic. This is fantastic. I am slightly bored of his silent, conflicted hero roles. If he does this film, he will be dancing and choreographing and stuff. HELLZ YEAH! Also lots of romancing because Berkeley was married 6 times. HELLZZZ YEAHHHH!!! Chiwetel Ejiofor is being considered to play the villain in the upcoming Bond 24. I am completely on board with this.

6) I don't know if I have declared this yet but 2014 is going to be the Year of Jack O'Connell and I'm super excited about that. The news that he will star in Joe Cornish's next feature Section 6 has increased my excitement tenfold. Cornish's previous movie Attack the Block, which was also his first, is one of smartest and most thrilling movies in recent years so this is excellent. The film is a historical spy thriller about the formation of MI6 after WW1 and its first director, Sir John Mansfield Cummings, who was actually the inspiration behind M in the James Bond series. O'Connell will play a young protege of Cummings.

7) John Green recently made the announcement that following the release of the adaption of his latest novel The Fault in Our Stars, the same team behind it will make the film version of another of his novels, Paper Towns. I really love Paper Towns too and I feel it has a more unique premise than TFiOS and so it could be a pretty interesting movie if made properly. Nat Wolff, who played Isaac in the TFiOS movie will be playing the protagonist Q in Paper Towns. I approve of this because he looks like how I imagined Q to be, unlike Ansel Elgort who is playing Gus in TFiOS.

8) I know most of you guys don't listen to Bollywood music but I have a feeling you might appreciate this if you like music in general. Those of you who do, this is kind of pure genius.

All the songs are listed here. I love most of them before the 2010s.

9) Trailers- I'm going to go from best to worst. So my favourite trailer that has come out in the last *sigh* month is Frank. I have seen it like a million times now and it cracks me up every time. I have this really strong feeling it might become my favourite movie of the year and possibly my favourite Fassy performance. Yes, I know his Steve McQueen movies will always have his best performances but the heart wants what it wants and if I know my heart well enough, it wants Fassy wearing a giant head and acting nuts (I should be a lyricist). The latest X-Men: Days of the Future Past is a tad impressive though I still think the film is going to fail, which sucks because it has incredible actors. Lucy pretty much looks batshit crazy and I really think the film isn't going to be good but hot damn, I LOVE SCARJO SO MUCH! She looks amazing and I definitely want to watch this. The True Blood season 7 teaser which is pretty much useless but I am sooooooooooo glad this show is ending. Jupiter Ascending looks like the kind of movie that will inevitably suck but at the same time, there's Eddie Redmayne in it and so I'll have to watch it. I don't particularly like the trailer of Night Moves because it looks pretty meh but I've read that the film is excellent and I do like the cast so I'm interested. Same goes for Begin Again although its USP for me is that it's made by the guy who made Once, which is a perfect film. Sex Tape can't possibly be an entire movie, right? With that thin and stupid a premise? Also, I like chubby Jason Segel and this weight loss makes me sad. And now, we get to the *really* good stuff. Bad Johnson has one of the craziest premises and posters I have EVER heard of/seen in my life. The trailer is relatively tame but just, WOWSERS! Also, this is exactly the kind of movie I expect Cam Gigandet to do. I saw the next trailer before Captain America: The Winter Soldier so just imagine my reaction- Pizza is a horror film about a pizza delivery man which is actually a remake of a South Indian film and it has just blown my mind. And finally, THE worst trailer of the month is that of the Indian movie copied from Sherlock, Samrat & Co.. No. Just no. Stop it, Bollywood!

Side note: I should totally just start a segment called "Stop it, Bollywood"/ "Why, Bollywood? Why?" and just cry over/rant about Bollywood. It just makes me so mad!

10) Finally, this reunion of Matt Smith and Karen Gillan brings me immense joy-

They should just get married. Well, the only people Matt Smith is allowed to marry, in order of preference, is me, Karen Gillan, Ian McKellen and Jennifer Lawrence. Since he hasn't found me yet, Gillan would do.

On that slightly insane note, byeeee! Oh and happy Thrones day :) Winter, boobs and incest are coming.

Thoughts

WAAZZZZAAAAA GUYSSSSSSS!! My weekly thoughts is back after a 2 month hiatus. Don't ask me why I stopped writing them. I started many but the news kept piling up and the thought of typing more just brought out the lazy ass in me. So now with the new year, I am going to start afresh with all the most recent movie stuff.

1) This is really the most important news- Paul Rudd is going to be Ant-Man in Edgar Wright's Ant-Man!!! Hurrah!!!!!! I lurve Paul Rudd and I really admire Wright for choosing actors like Rudd or Simon Pegg or Michael Cera, who aren't really "hero material" but they totally kick ass in his movies. Rudd will be playing Scott Lang and none other than Michael Douglas will play Dr. Hank Prym who in the comics is apparently the original Ant-Man and the guy who invents the technology that enables people to get minitiurized or whatever. The film will release in the 2015 during the slot when the Batfleck-Superman movie was going to come out. The latter has changed dates because of some reason that I don't care about.

2) Casting: Daniel Radcliffe continues to build an interesting career and his next project is Brooklyn Bridge about the brilliant but rookie engineer who has to oversee the building of the Brooklyn Bridge after the death of his father. There's a rumour that Gwyneth Paltrow will play his wife. I hope to god that does not happen because it is wrong on so many levels. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is going to star in the fictional take on renowned documentary Man on Wire. It is called To Reach the Clouds and it will be directed by Robert Zemeckis. The John Belushi biopic starring Emile Hirsch as the titular character has found its Dan Aykroyd in The Spectacular Now's Miles Teller. In spite of what I felt about the movie, I think Teller has great potential and this film sounds really interesting. Sarah Paulson has joined the cast of the Todd Haynes-directed Carol which will have Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara playing the leads. I love this beyond words. The Duchess of Ray Bridge herself, Margot Robbie is going to play Jane in the upcoming Tarzan movie that has Alexander Skarsgard donning the loincloth (hopefully!) and swinging from trees as our hero. This will obviously be a hot effing movie and I almost wish that it is R-rated because why not :)

3) Joe Wright's Pan is building up quite an ensemble. Hugh Jackman is going to play Blackbeard, the villain, and Garrett Hedlund is going to play Captain Hook who isn't apparently bad in this version. It was previously reported Hedlund would play Peter Pan which I thought was just strange, but Hedlund and Jackman will be a nice pair of hot pirates. Now we just have to cast Keira Knightley as Wendy or Tinkerbell.

4) So Quentin Tarantino wrote a first draft of a proper western, since Django Unchained wasn't proper enough or whatever, called "The Hateful Eight" but someone leaked it online, causing him shelve the project completely. While it is true that I will follow Tarantino to the ends of earth and he might be the only person who can get me interested in westerns, I am kind of glad because I want him to tackle new genres and give them his Tarantino-ian twist. It seems that is exactly what might be in store for us because he may be working on a script based on the Robert Blake case, about a 70s TV star who murdered his wife and was sued by his children. It could be a legal thriller, which in itself is a pretty cool genre, but what Tarantino will do with it is even more fun to speculate about. Could he possible go back to something like Jackie Brown even? Now I'm getting excited!

5) Rumour has it that Pixar might be making it's own Star Wars movie. I have nothing more to say other than I WANT IT NOW!!!!!!

6) The Sundance Film Festival just got over and many of the indies that we might be talking about the rest of the year till next awards season were shown. The films that have caught my eye the most are Whiplash, which won a number of prizes, starring Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons, Richard Linklater's epic that took twelve years to make, Boyhood, Anton Corbijn's A Most Wanted Man starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Fassy-in-a-head movie, Frank, the Belle and Sebastian movie, God Help the Girl, Life After Beth starring Dane DeHaan and a zombified Aubrey Plaza (which sounds so perfect!!) and vampire flick A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. Also, The Raid 2: Berandal has gotten some rave reviews so really excited about that one too.

7) Lately, I have been reading a lot on the inevitable Jennifer Lawrence backlash. I think it is a really interesting cultural phenomenon, or rather she is. For someone who was so widely loved this time last year, a lot of people seem to despise her at present. But this is balanced by an equally rabid group of fangirls who will like cut you, virtually of course, if you say anything bad about her. I find it fascinating because JLaw at present represents both sides of our "Tumblr" age. Also the fact the she is probably the only female towards whom there is such complete devotion. I get why people like her- she's funny, pretty, relatable, a good actor and she is part of one of the biggest franchises in the world right now. I also get why people don't like her- all those incessant Buzzfeed posts, Oscar + Catching Fire + American Hustle + another Oscar nomination which is definitely undeserved. The fact that both of these things have happened within the course of one year is kind of unfortunate, because she has at least 3 big releases in the next two years, Mockingjay parts 1 and 2 and X-Men: Days of Future Past, so she's not going anywhere any time soon. And the dissenting voices will become even louder if by any chance she does manage to win the Oscar because it will then definitely become a popularity thing. This will be bad for both parties, even though the fangirls may not realise it yet, because she *will* almost definitely peak then and we might have to wait quite a while before she can give her next great performance that people will care about. I for one am still a fan, of both Jennifer Lawrence, the actress, and Jennifer Lawrence, the personality. Even if she might be putting on a show, I like that a 23 year old can be both neurotic and charming and may not have everything figured out even though she's a huge star. It's affirming.

8) Score-wise: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have re-teamed with David Fincher and are going to score his upcoming thriller, Gone Girl. I still listen to The Social Network score and I just rewatched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its opening continues to give me chills. Also, Carter Burwell will score the aforementioned Carol (and not Clint Mansell, *who* scored Stoker. I'm and idiot) so that is awesome. Most importantly though, Danny Elfman will score Fifty Shades of Grey! Woo hoo! I'm so excited to hear the music between the spanking and the sex noises!!!!!!

9) Speaking of, the teaser poster of Fifty Shades of Grey has released. It looks a lot like Dhoom 3's poster, which is just an odd connection. I don't like the font but Jamie Dornan, if it indeed is him, has a nice suit and a nice butt. These are my observations.

10) Andrew of Encore's World of Film & TV is doing his Motifs in Cinema blogathon again and I will be taking part this time 'round. I will be looking at the "coming of age" movies of 2013.

11) Trailers- Starred Up starring Jack O'Connell and Rupert Friend looks like a pretty intense film. I have loved O'Connell since his Skins days and this is a good year for him (he is the lead in Angelina Jolie's Unbroken). Karen Gillan stars in creepy horror flick Oculus. I was anyways going to watch it for Gillan but apparently it's also pretty good according to the TIFF'13 reports, so yaay. There isn't a trailer out yet but the clip from Fassy and Domhnall Gleeson starrer Frank looks really quirky and fun. Coming to television, Sam Mendes-produced Penny Dreadful has two teasers out (1, 2) and looks kind of generic but I love Eva Green and my 13 year old self still believes in Josh Hartnett, so I will be keeping an eye out for it. Finally, Hannibal season 2's trailer is out and it's beautiful. Can't wait for more murders that look like pretty works of art and Mads Mikkelsen in a bloody unbuttoned shirt!

12) Finally, Jonah Hill is living every girl's dream-

Forget getting Oscars for their performances in WoWS, they should be getting fucking Oscars for this! I heart them so much.

I also want to marry Leonardo DiCaprio.

Au revoir!

Love me do- Favourite Pixar Love Stories

      Pixar films are known for their emphasis on friendship. Their latest feature, Monsters University, shows us the beginnings of one of their most celebrated bromances, as it were. But, as much as I enjoyed it, I was really blown away by the short The Blue Umbrella that was shown before it. This was a love story, and it got me thinking about the different romances that Pixar has given us. These are my top 10.

Honourable mentions- I think Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead from the Toy Story movies and Fergus and Elinor from Brave are the only other couples in Pixar-verse, and as cute as they are, we don't see the romance aspect of their lives explored much.

10) Lightning McQueen and Sally Carrera in Cars

I barely have any memory of Cars, but I do remember liking their relationship a lot. He's the stud and she's the pretty but clever girl, basically. They were cute.

9) Mike Wazowski and Celia Mae in Monsters Inc.

Or should I say, Googly bear and Schmoopsie poo. The fact that monsters that are more or less based on Cyclops and Medusa can be this adorable is a testament to Pixar.

8) Princess Atta and Flik in A Bug's Life

A Bug's Life is one of the most forgettable Pixar films, which is a shame because it is quite good. One of its best parts for me was the relationship between Atta and Flik. They both want to do good, but don't know how. Flik is the daring one with the crazy ideas and Atta is the one with all the responsibilities, who by the end they realise the worth of each other. It is very sweet.

7) Ken and Barbie in Toy Story 3

Come on, I'm a girl! This was like my first dream couple ever, and to see them brought to life onscreen was a genuine childhood fantasy come true. And I just love how Barbie is the kickass one and Ken is the super flamboyant one.

6) Buzz and Jessie in Toy Story 2 and 3

I adore how the uber cool Buzz Lightyear tends to become speechless around Jessie. When his Spanish settings kick-in in Toy Story 3 and he becomes the romantic charmer he is inside, it is both hilarious and lovely to watch.

5) Linguini and Colette in Ratatouille

When we first meet Colette, she is shown as a really determined woman who has almost forgotten to smile. Enter Linguini with all his charming klutziness, and one magical Parisian kiss later, we have one of the cutest and most "opposites attract" philosophy-affirming couples in animated history.

4) Mr. Incredible/Bob Parr and Elastigirl/Helen Parr in The Incredibles

I really appreciate how movie doesn't show the courtship and rose-coloured, puppy-love years of their life, but rather the tougher middle ages and all the problems that they bring with them, and how these two get through them as both as superheroes and a real married couple.

3) Blue Umbrella and Red Umbrella in The Blue Umbrella

I can't help but connect this short to a quote from Doctor Who- 

"It's the oldest story in the universe. This one or any other. Boy and girl fall in love, get separated by events--war, politics, accidents in time. She's thrown out of the hex or he's thrown into it. Since then they've been yearning for each other across time and space."

Only Pixar can make a love story between two primary coloured umbrellas this magical and relatable.

2) WALL-E and Eve in WALL-E

WALL-E is the closest thing to a romantic epic that Pixar has given us. A garbage-packing robot who after hundreds of years of solitude finds love in a beautiful and feisty robot and will travel across space to get her back. The scenes when Eve goes into standby and WALL-E tries to make her active again, or that space-dance, are all just so wonderful.

1) Carl and Ellie in Up

Because this is the dream. Pixar, in Carl and Ellie, gave us one of the most endearing, magically human, incredibly touching love stories ever depicted onscreen, all within ten minutes. I'm tearing up just thinking about it because it makes me so happy and so sad. In a film all about the spirit of adventure, I think theirs is the greatest adventure story of them all. And the fact that Carl endeavoured to make Ellie's dreams come true even after her death is just beautiful.

So this was my list. What did you think?

Magic by Pixar

I cried. 

It was wonderful.

Thoughts

Hello! College 2.0 has started. I have never been this tired in my life. But I like this college. There is film studies among my subjects, which feels like the class I have been waiting for all my life. Anyways, my thoughts for this week-

1) Super duper awesome casting news- Johnny Depp has been cast in Wes Anderson's next film The Grand Budapest Hotel. I have been praying for Depp to do something smaller that will truly show off his immense acting talents. This is exactly it. Anderson's brand of quirky is totally different to the Depp's natural eccentricity and I believe that both of them together can create movie magic. Among the other potential cast members are Anderson regulars like Owen Wilson and Bill Murray. There is also talk about Jude Law, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Adrien Brody, Angela Lansbury and Jeff Goldblum joining in. I have to say here that if there is a film with Depp, Norton and Brody, I WILL DIE OUT OF HAPPINESS!! PLEASE LET THIS HAPPEN, PLEASE!!

2) The other casting news that has me buzzed is Daniel Radcliffe starring in two very different movies after Kill Your Darlings, the Beat era film he is currently filming. The first is the adaptation of Joe Hill's (Stephen King's son) novel Horns, which is about a 26 year-old man who, after being wrongfully accused of raping and murdering his girlfriend, finds horns growing out of his head which grant him the power to make people confess their sins, and this comes in handy in his quest to find the real culprit. It sounds pretty batshit crazy and added to that, will be directed by Piranha 3D's Alexander Aja. Still it will be interesting to see Radcliffe do something so far-out. The other film, one which I am more excited about, is a romcom (yess!) alongside Zoe Kazan, named F Word. It is about two people, Wallace and Chantry, who hit it off at a party, but then are forced to stay friends because Chantry has a long-term boyfriend. Radcliffe is incredibly funny in all his interviews, and was quite good in Extras and SNL, so I have high hopes for him.

3) Links- It was the ultimate badass and king of awesome, Harrison Ford's birthday this week and check out M. Hufstader's brilliant post on him where she makes him the BAMF of the Week. Speaking of awesome, this is The Dark Knight Rises week (Accio Sunday!) and pretty much everyone is writing about it, or its director Chistopher Nolan. While I am steering clear of any reviews of any kind, I love posts about the latter. Alex is doing The Week of Nolan, which is brilliant and do check out all the posts. Last but definitely not the least, is the biggest Nolan fangirl herself, Stevee, with a Christopher Nolan Retrospective/ Appreciation Post.

4) There are literally no trailers this week, but instead, I bring you something infinitely better and more brilliant- ladies and gentlemen, Robert Downey Jr.-

5) After so much brilliance, a little albeit very imperative rant- Pixar is going to make a sequel to Finding Nemo. Andrew Stanton will helm the project, which is now being developed. This is awful. As I have said time and again, I am a total Pixar worshiper. The people working there are geniuses who make the most incredible animated movies, and one of their best qualities is their originality. Now they too have fallen under the franchise spell. It is so terribly sad. I mean they have seen what happened with Cars 2, and while the Monsters Inc. prequel looks acceptable, they should just stop there. Pixar movies make a lot of money, and it is a good thing because their films are excellent and deserved to be watched by everyone, but this is just greedy. This article at The Film Experience speaks a lot about this and I agree with most of it, especially about the possibility of a Toy Story 4 (blasphemy!!).

6) Also Emmy nominations were announced today and here is the full list of nominations. I am still not a TV person, though I do watch a shitload of shows now. My favourite nominations are that of Sherlock of course- Best Miniseries, Best Actor in a Miniseries for Benedict Cumberbatch and Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries for Martin Freeman. Sherlock is probably my favourite thing on TV currently, tied with Doctor Who and Parks and Recreation. Amy Poehler bagged a Best Actress in a Comedy Series nomination for that, so yaay! Others were snubbed :( Other nominees I am happy about are Peter Dinklage for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his splendid performance in Game of Thrones, Lena Dunham and Zooey Deschanel for Best Actress Comedy for Girls and New Girl respectively, Jim Parsons for Best Actor Comedy in The Big Bang Theory, Girls for Best Comedy Series and Max Greenfield, who plays the adorable douche Schmidt, for New Girl.

7) Finally, this happened-

I said goddamn! Goddamn!

It's getting hot in here people *fans herself*. Bye.

MY FAVOURITE FEMALE PIXAR CHARACTERS

          Disney Pixar's Brave marked a new era for Pixar movies by being the first one with a female protagonist. But this isn't the first time that a Pixar movie has had fascinating, and frankly brilliant female characters. I saw this list done by someone else and I just needed to do one with my choices.


Honourable mentions: Princess Atta from A Bug's Life, Roz from Monsters Inc., Helen/Elastigirl from The Incredibles and Sally from Cars.

10) Elinor from Brave

This is perhaps the biggest surprise in the list, but I loved Queen Elinor so much. She is strong and kind and loving and a great mother. My favourite scene of hers was when she just walks down a huge room full of brawling Scots and everyone just stops fighting. She is one no-nonsense lady.

9) Jessie from Toy Story 2 and 3

Jessie is a perfect example how Pixar manages to marry joy and sorrow perfectly in their movies and their characters. She is spirited and funny, but in Toy Story 2, we see her backstory and see where she comes from. She is a great addition in the toy gang. Also her scenes with Buzz are just adorable.

8) Ellie from Up

Okay so she's only in like the first 10 minutes of the movie, but we feel her presence throughout. I think Ellie is like the idea of a perfect soulmate. Her relationship with Carl is just beautiful, and her "great adventure" as revealed towards the end of the film is heartbreaking and lovely.

7) Colette from Ratatouille

Chef Colette is a total badass! A woman trying to make her way in the world of men, and she will not stop at nothing. Though she seems scary at first, we see that she is a really nice person and just wants to be appreciated. She is a sensible and smart modern woman.

6) Violet from The Incredibles

I connected with her the most in this film. Shy at first, Violet comes on her own during the course of the film and becomes a super duper young woman by the end of it. I think she's a great role model for young girls.

5) Eve from Wall-E

Wall-E's robotic and cool love interest is actually really cute. Her anger, her power, her love, her concern for Wall-E, everything! She's the great love in the epic life story of Wall-E, and we can't help but love her too.

4) Edna Mode from The Incredibles
Oh she is so friggin' awesome!! "No capes!" She is the Miranda Priestly of the animated world and I want to be her so bad.

3) Boo from Monsters Inc.

Dawwww. I love Boo. I love that big furry monsters are scared of her at first and then love her towards the end. I love the way she laughs. I love love love the way she says "Mike Wazowski!!!!" Pixar has a fantastic record of children in its movies, and Boo is maybe the greatest, and certainly the cutest, of them all.

2) Merida from Brave

That marvelous, gorgeous, odes-inducing hair aside, Merida is a totally incredible character. Free-spirited and feisty, she just wants to live normally and be the person she is, and not what others want her to be. Still she makes mistakes and learns from them. A truly excellent role models for girls, and for film makers because this is exactly how a female protagonist should be like.

1) Dori from Finding Nemo
She is perhaps one of the greatest characters ever, animated or not, brought to life by the superb voice work of Ellen DeGeneres. Not only is she hilarious with her short-term memory ailment (I swear I have regular bouts of that), she is an amazing friend and companion. I mean Finding Nemo is sort of like a road movie underwater, and Marty the clownfish could not have found anyone better to share his journey and search with. She's friendly and helpful and does not have one bad bone in her body, and that is completely believable because she's such a clueless riot too :)

Hope you enjoyed this. GO PIXAR!!

"If you had a chance to change your fate, would you?"

         One of my dream wacky jobs is to wait tables at the cafeterias of Pixar since I'm not actually smart enough to "work" work there, but I'll get to be around pure geniuses and I'm also pretty convinced that I'll get to wear Pixar character costumes as part of my job. So from this one can deduce the following- 1) that I am, in fact, a crazy person, 2) that film and television has romanticized waitresses wayy too much, and finally and most importantly 3) that I love Pixar to death.


         I have watched all the Pixar movies except Cars 2, because I don't want to ruin my perfect idea of Pixar. Okay I did fall asleep while watching Cars, but still. The other ten films have been amazing. Yes, some more than others, but all are brilliant and heartfelt in their own ways. So ever since the first news about their new film, Brave, was released, I have been going nuts with excitement. I finally saw it yesterday, first day first show, and have been pleasantly rewarded.

           Brave is about a free-spirited and tomboy-ish Scottish princess, Merida, who wants desperately to change her destiny of being a well-mannered and lady-like queen, like her mother Elinor. When suitors from the various clans come for her hand in marriage, Merida defies all the traditions and takes drastic steps to so that she can change the mind of her mother, but something goes terribly wrong and it's up to Merida to save her family, and the day.


           Now this synopsis is based on all the trailers so far. In the movie, the relationship between Merida and Elinor plays a huge role, but I don't want to ruin anything. Pixar has its own brand of the unexpected and new. While the whole tomboy rebellious princess thing isn't very novel, the way the movie handles it was. I truly feel that in terms of heart, Pixar movies are second to none, and Brave taps into this wonderfully complex and dynamic and beautiful bond between a mother and daughter and circles everything around it. Like when everyone kept comparing this to a Dreamworks animated feature, the film nerd in me wanted to clarify that the core difference between it and a Pixar feature is that the former is about great, magical adventures and the latter is about finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, and Brave will be no different. I was wrong. Brave is an adventure story- yes; it is about something relatively common like the relationship between a mother and her child- yes, but then that isn't something ordinary. It is among the most incredible things in the world! The fact that it takes something as extraordinary as that, and then makes the film about it, and not just rebelling and fighting and kilts and magic- that is why it wins for me. True it isn't as original as Ratatouille or Finding Nemo, or as impactful as Toy Story 3, but heart is heart, and Brave has loads of it. And I loved it for it.

            Speaking of love, Merida is the red-haired queen of my heart. I have been going crazy about her ever since the first concept art pictures were released. Her hair is a work of art. I recently wrote about the critical eye versus eye candy, and god, I love this film for her hair alone! But then again, she is super awesome even without it. I have written about my Disney-loving best friend many times on this blog, and she had a whole argument with me about how Merida isn't a Disney princess. My best friend is right- Merida is not one because she doesn't sing and doesn't have a prince, but who cares?! She is perfect the way she is. She is exquisite and feisty and funny and caring and independent. Right from the beginning her curiosity and joy entices us to fall in love with her, and as we see her grow up and be rebellious and make mistakes, but then change too, we are very much with her till the end. And beyond. Princes Merida is already a legend, being the first female protagonist in a Pixar film ever. Also as luck would have it, this is the year of Katniss Everdeen as well, and between the two of them, we have the beginnings of a new era of female heroes. Kelly Macdonald did a fantastic job of voicing Merida.


          I loved everyone else too. Emma Thompson voiced Queen Elinor, and she was at the other end of the spectrum of strong women. I mean yes she isn't adept with bows and arrows, but she is one respected and fierce lady. Billy Connoly was King Fergus and he was very funny, especially when he mimics Merida. Kevin McKidd, Robbie Coltrane and Craig Ferguson (!) voiced the various clan leaders, who were hilarious. Julie Walters voiced the Witch. My absolute favourites were Merida's three younger brothers Harris, Hubert and Hamish, who were just adorable.

          The story was by Brenda Chapman, who was also the co-director, along with Mark Andrews. She's the first woman director in Pixar's history so far, and she did an splendid job. The film looked absolutely gorgeous. The Scottish backdrop was rich with colour and details, everything brought more to life by Merida's hair (I'm sorry- I can't stop gushing about it!). The music was superb- very Celtic and appropriate. It just added so much to the feel of a film like this. The film was also really humorous, thanks to the mostly brilliant gags of the genius triplets.


          If I had to talk about any flaws, it would be the decision of showing the totally stunning La Luna before the movie, because that just drips with pure Pixar magic! I mean I was in tears before Brave even started. Brave is definitely less brilliant, but with a fiery-haired and fiery-hearted heroine for the ages and an excellent emotional story, it is definitely a return to form for Pixar and a really lovely experience.


          Go watch it :D

My 50 Movie Wishes

Inspired by Sati's and Tyler's Movie Wishes lists, I decided to make one of my own. I think mine is a bit more general and not so much about specific movies. There are quite a few about actors and some even personal. Anyways, I hope you enjoy them :D

1) I wish that Johnny Depp would star in a small independent film and give a powerhouse performance and once again show the world the depth of his talent.

2) I wish the Indian film industry was run by Aamir Khan, the Akhtars and Vishal Bharadwaj.

3) I wish there was a film made just about Mrs. Robinson.

4) I wish Harry Potter would have never ended.

5) I wish Gone with the Wind would have ended.

6) I wish I lived in the land of Pixar.

7) I wish Woody Allen makes films forever.

8) I wish Katherine Heigl would have never starred in films and thus not ruined the name of romcoms.

9) I wish all romcoms could be like The Apartment.

10) I wish Ralph Fiennes would get his Oscar already.

11)  I wish all films were as beautiful as Pan's Labyrinth.

12) I wish that Quentin Tarantino continues to make brilliant films and not retire at 60.

13) I wish I could watch films without over-analysing them with my mathematical brain and thus enjoy films by David Lynch and the like.

14) I wish someone adapts Lolita truthfully and ruthlessly and not make it all about guilt and self-loathing.

15) I wish critics would appreciate comedians like Jim Carrey and Bill Murray more.

16) I wish there was a film just about Mickey from Snatch.

17) I wish I fully understood The Virgin Suicides.

18) I wish all films were as quotable as Mean Girls.

19) I wish Fassy becomes the next James Bond, 60s style.

20) I wish Winona Ryder makes a comeback.

21)  I wish Edgar Wright finishes his Blood and Ice cream trilogy soon, and then continue to make more and even awesomer trilogies with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, aka Best Onscreen Couple EVER.

22) I wish David Fincher had won the Oscar for directing The Social Network.

23) I wish all films were as enjoyable as Star Trek (2009).

24) I wish James Dean would have made more films.

25) I wish Kieran Culkin, Emile Hirsch and Paul Dano came in more films.

26) I wish all child actors could act as well as Natalie Portman in Leon or Jamie Bell in Billy Elliot.

27) I wish there was a film about Maggie Smith being the best Maggie Smith she can be.

28) I wish Julianne Moore would have her Oscar already.

29) I wish all films were released everywhere and at the right time.

30) I wish Paul Thomas Anderson would make a comedic film again.

31) I wish more films would properly sexualise their male leads instead of their female leads, like Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire.

32) I wish the AMPAS weren't so close-minded when it comes to films about kids and teenagers.

33) I wish people would truly appreciate Ewan McGregor.

34) I wish all performances could be as brave as Charlize Theron's in Young Adult.

35) I wish 3D was only used for films that require it, and not dance movies or concert movies or period movies.

36) I wish Adrien Brody would get roles according to his caliber.

37) I wish more films could make me as crazy about the musical score and soundtrack as Kill Bill Vol. 1 does.

38)  I wish all films could end the way Before Sunset does- leaving us asking for more and at the same time for nothing else because that would ruin the magic of it.

39) I wish people wouldn't judge Marie Antoinette for all its shallowness, but instead with all its shallowness.

40) I wish Emma Stone would portray Lauren Bacall in a biopic.

41)  I wish all supporting actors were as amazing as Donald O' Connor and Jean Hagen is Singin' in the Rain.

42) I wish they never played the bloody banjo music in the actual sex scene in Bonnie and Clyde, an otherwise very sultry film.

43) I wish they wouldn't make another Batman movie for at least the next 20 years.

44) I wish people looked up to 12 Angry Men at least the same way they do to To Kill a Mockingbird.

45) I wish Jack Dawson hadn't died.

46) I wish David Fincher makes a film inspired by his Madonna "Vogue" video.

47) I wish Frodo was less of a pain in the ass- LOTR would've been even more perfect then.

48) I wish Tilda Swinton keeps giving her awe-inducing performances forever.

49) I wish Edward Norton would get his Oscar already.

50) I wish some day I could write and direct films, and hopefully good ones at that :)

Married Life

One of my absolute favourite scenes ever. The happiness, the sadness, and most of all the love. Pixar can really create magic, and this scene, in all its simplicity, is probably the most magical of them all.

Thoughts

Let's start with a video today:

Brilliance, ouie?

1) This reminded me of  the Pixar-related thought that I had to write about in last week's weekly thoughts but forgot to. Anyways apparently Pixar is working on a project regarding the human mind. Oh Fuck Yes!!!! It "explores a world that everyone knows, but no one has seen: inside the human mind" How insanely incredible will this be?! People at The Film Experience Blog have already compared it to Inception, but better. Now in case I have not made clear the extent of my love and admiration for Pixar, I must tell you about a certain dream of mine. I want to be a waitress in the cafes at Pixar Studios. So very bad. I have a theory that everyone should be a waiter once in their lives to get people skills and humility and hopefully, cute uniforms. Might sound silly, but I am convinced that waiters in Pixar Studios dress up as the various characters from the Pixar films. Can you imagine? I can be Mike Wazowski or Mrs. Incredible or Bo Peep! A friend of mine thinks that it sounds too much like a sexual fantasy though. Ah well, now you know everything about me. And that I LOVE Pixar!!

2) Trailers- I have really not cared all week. There is The Skin I Live In trailer. It just looks really random, but that's probably because I have never seen a Pedro Almodóvar film, who by the way looks like a really swell fellow in his IMDb picture. Anyways, I will be watching Women on the Verge of a Breakdown and All About My Mother soon, which will help me to form some sort of opinion on the director and this film. The next is the teaser for The Hunger Games. Now I know nothing about this film or tv show (?) or book. Everyone else seems really excited about it, and while it is being directed by Gary Ross who made Pleasantville and stars the awesome Jennifer Lawrence, I couldn't give a damn. A huge reason for this is the whole "it will be bigger than Harry Potter" bull. They said the same for The Chronicles of Narnia and for Twilight. Yeah, sure...

3) Today I saw this Bollywood film called Bodyguard. Be sure it was nothing like the English one, or so my father says (I've never seen it). This film...it frustrates me so much! This is exactly the kind of crap that Bollywood is getting known for more and more. It was mindless and annoying and had such terrible albeit abundant effects. I sort of compare it to Transformers: Dark of the Moon because of the lack of story and the expansive amount of effects  put in it, though half of the effects was just the leading actor Salman Khan's face. And I am angry with myself for watching this and not the really good crop of smaller films that had recently released and only my dad saw. There was a film called I Am Kalam in which a poor kid who wants to be educated writes a letter to the former Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, and there was another one called Sahi Dhande Galat Bande (Right Job Wrong Guys)  which is about land-acquisition in Indian villages. Tomorrow there is this film called That Girl in Yellow Boots coming out which has my currently favourite Indian actress Kalki Koechlin, and an eternal favourite Naseeruddin Shah in it. Hopefully it will be good.

4) And, finally September has come, and I am really going to try and up my movie-watching. This will have problems- what without my trusty (or so I thought) hard disk, a wedding in the family and approaching exams. However I am particularly gifted at getting into "wasteful" things during important times. And so we hope.

"I walked with you once upon a dream." ~Annie Leibovitz’s Disney Dream Portrait Series

Scarlett Johansson as Cinderella

Rachel Weisz as Snow White

Jeff Bridges as the Beast and Penelope Cruz as Belle from Beauty and the Beast

Julie Andrews as the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio and Abigial Breslin as Fira from Disney Fairies

Roger Federer as King Arthur

Whoopi Goldberg as the Genie

Olivia Wilde as the Evil Queen, Alec Baldwin as The Mirror

Julianne Moore as Ariel and Michael Phelps as a Merman

Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens as Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora 

Drew Barrymore as Belle from Beauty and the Beast

Now my friend Pragya is the big Disney person...I'm more of a Pixar person.. Still these pics are pretty cool, because I think most of us, when we see a cartoon character, try and imagine them as a real person. My favourites are Genie, Ariel, Cinderella and, hate to admit it, but Prince Phillip and Aurora.

Also I'm going to have a Disney Princess marathon with Pragya soon, and will hopefully post a lot on that. We were actually planning that today when I realised that Snow White is the single most stupidest anything ever. As Pragya said, WERE HER PARENTS RETARDED TO NAME HER THAT??!!

Random musings...