Enlighten Up! - Yoga For Dummies

It’s high time, I started posting something rather than helping my lazy bum thrive forever.

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Enlighten Up! – Directed by Kate Churchill, this cracking little documentary is about the journey to understand the ultimate destination of Yoga. Her subject: New York journalist, Nick Rosen. Kate & Nick travel from NYC to Hawaii and finally to the motherland of Yogis, India to find a logical, rational and most importantly plausible answer to the spiritual realization element of Yoga.

I would assume that the target audience for this documentary is basically people like me, who have no freaking clue about Yoga. I do get the most confused look on my face while looking at the postures (the asanas). What are they doing?! Let me tell you something. I was sitting with 100+ people in REAL ART WAYS and everyone had the same look. Nick felt like, he is one among of us. You are automatically tuned to this guy’s frequency. Within 10 minutes in to the film, we are already engaged to his journey.

The film plays between light & high moments. Humor is unavoidable in this premise. We do laugh with Nick and get back to skeptical mode. Is yoga just an exercise for both mind and body? Is there any spiritual connection to this practice? This is a very simple concept for a documentary which expects all the meat to come out of the conception itself. In this case, the journey! Throughout the film, Kate, Nick and us, the audience waits for the moment - the ultimate payoff of this journey! I’m not going to spoil the ending yet. But the journey is worth watching. It’s hilarious, satiric and emotional all the way.

I don’t want to use swooping phrases like “masterpiece” or “must-see” but I would consider this as a nice little study on yoga. It doesn’t promise much but delivers something heavy in the end.

Spoiler Alert from here .........

After the show, I happened to have a long chat with one of my friends. She read the movie in a totally different way. So I would consider the ending very subjective. In my perspective, I felt, the ending was very strong and absolutely emotional. Yoga is basically soul searching and finding thyself. I don’t remember the Yogi’s name but the one who gives a charming speech in the end – he basically sets this journey’s payoff. It goes something like – a human reaches the pinnacle of self realization and existence, while performing an activity beyond the physical and mental capabilities. This can be reached by anything you love – Swimming, Hiking, Rock Climbing, Racing and ……. Yoga as well! That’s the supreme enlightenment from this movie.

Tryin To Get Back!

Apologies to SilasRam readers! I haven't been able to update my blog as frequently as I used to do. Work has surrounded and mobbed me completely. Let me try to get back on track!

But I did watch lots and lots of movies and TV. And NetFlix has been giving me cerebral/indie/foreign movies as well. So it's all good :)

RIP Bodhi!

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Another legend passed away! Patrick Swayze died at 57 after fighting pancreatic cancer for the past 2 years. This is unexpected and didn't expect that I would be impacted so much. I'm not a huge fan of his movies. I have absolutely loved Point Break - one of the best action flicks of all time and have been wanting to see Road House for a long time. Felt OK with Ghost and not interested in Dirty Dancing. But Swayze has always been the man's man and ultimate dude for me. Whatever movies I have seen of him, he had always been the ultimate class act. I have been following news stories about him since he had been diagnosed with cancer. Can't believe he is no more.

Rest In Peace. My heart goes out to his family and the fans! He would live in us as Bodhi forever. It's a very sad day!

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE - LET THE WILD RUMPUS START!!

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I'm almost in tears of joy after seeing this trailer. I'm sensing a classic which is gonna bring out the child in everyone of us. This is spectacular and mind blowing already. I'm telling you right now, I can't wait! I'm having a moment here.

Here is the new trailer for WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE based out of the book by Maurice Sendak and directed by Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation)

Public Enemies – Nails Down Into The History

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Set in 1933, Great Depression era, Public Enemies chronicles the epic story of the bank robbing criminals, John Dillinger, his gang and attempts by the FBI to bring them down. Staring Johnny Depp as John Dillinger, Christian Bale as FBI agent Melvin Purvis and Marion Cotillard as Dillinger’s girlfriend Billie Frechette. Screenplay by Ronan Bennett, Ann Biderman, Michael Mann. Directed by Michael Mann.

If you want to see an exemplary Mann film like Heat, this is the one. I would even keep this in the same level as Heat. Yes, it’s that good. Though, I completely enjoyed Collateral and Miami Heat, this one stands apart as one of the best Mann’s films till date. Once again, Mann handles the Cop Vs Criminal drama with an elegant technique. I just realized how many parallels can be run between Public Enemies and Heat. Nevertheless, Public Enemies is a much deeper character study of John Dillinger, the man he was. The most likable factor of Mann handling this character is, there are no expositions. Though Dillinger keeps talking to his girlfriend about his nature, his philosophies and his love, you understand this man from his actions. Mann tunes the audience in synchronization with Dillinger and we enjoy every exploit, he stages. When Dillinger asks Billie, “Want to take this ride with me?” we say “Yes!” to ourselves, because we are in with him. Christian Bale’s Melvin Purvis on the other hand stays a little distant, as it was intended to. We do feel this man but don’t want him to get anywhere near Dillinger. Two suave men in opposite sides of the coin. Both of them, fine in what they do and losing men on this journey. I don’t have to spoil this movie, but you know what happens in the end. You do walk out of the movie hall with a heavy heart and that’s movie magic!

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I can’t close out this post without talking about the cinematography. Mann, being the only director who uses Digital Camera in all his movies, has finally brought the complete beauty of this technology. The realism is unmatchable and it takes us back to the era. Substantially sharp, bit grainy and appealing slickness contributes to the élan of this film. Cinematography is an intrinsic part of the movie. The first 15 mins, I was just looking at the stunning visuals. Then I totally forgot about it and was taken away by the world of Dillinger. The noteworthy achievement is, the movie rose above this cinematography.

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A film like this needs the best of the performances, in most restrained approach possible. Depp, Bale and Cotillard get the job done with perfection. Johnny Depp is undeniably Dillinger and he owned every one of us in the movie hall. He had the same damn smile – to Billie, it was the most adorable smile and to the cops, it was most vicious smirk ever. After the Pirates’ movies, I was too worried about the “Actor” Depp. Oh yeah, he is back and he is back with a freaking great portrayal of the #1 public enemy.

Christian Bale plays it suave and subtle. You know this guy is a badass and you feel it throughout his presence, but you never see it explicitly. Bale reaches his pinnacle with his delicate glares, intense stares and sharp eyes. There are moments in which you know, he is totally broken inside; but all we see is the man standing taller and stronger. It’s so amazing how Bale managed to live this character.

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Marion Cotillard continues to engross us with her quality performances. The moments between her character and Dillinger bestow the flawless illustration of magnificence in having a rough man and a slender beauty together. Marion delivers the love in Dillinger’s life much bigger than all he had ever achieved.

I can almost say that Public Enemies is the best film, I have seen all year. The closest one is Star Trek. Public Enemies is a must watch. It’s a gangster epic presented in Mann’s panache. When the credits started rolling, I was damn sure that this is going to be timeless!

The Hurt Locker - War Is A Drug.

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The Hurt Locker – Critics have embraced it and branded it as the best intense-action-thriller-war epic in a long time. Directed by Katherine Bigelow of Point Break and Near Dark fame, starring a sweet cast - Jeremy Renner (new ABC show Unusuals, Guy Pearce (Memento) and Evangeline Lilly (Lost). It is currently carrying 95% in RottenTomatoes. So I guess, this is a must watch. Heard this one revolves around the US bomb squad in Middle-east. Movie seems to have stayed away from any sort of political agenda, but concentrates on the intense battle the military squad goes through, in detonating the explosives. To be honest, I can’t wait to see this movie. I have heard only good things and everyone has recommended this vastly.

Check out the recent one sheet (above) and the opening sequence of the movie (below).

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen – Benchmarking Non-stop Action!

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I have to speak my mind as I did for Wolverine. This summer, I have loved all these huge action flicks, even after realizing all the flaws in them. Critics have panned this movie heavily and it carries 19% approval rating in Tomatoes. I find this totally absurd because they loved the first one immensely. So what went wrong?! It’s the sky high expectations. We weren’t waiting for sequel to “Batman Begins” and this is no freaking Dark Knight. It’s Transformers. One line story, hot girls, cheesy lines and lots of mind-numbing, earth shattering CGI robots. That is all, we should have expected! Atleast that’s what I wanted to see.

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Having spent 13$, I felt its all worth it. I got what I wanted! But I understand the problem with this flick! It is huge; it is so huge, it never let the audience to sync in. There is no time to wait for the Autobots and Decepticons to show up. They land on the screen even before the humans show their faces. The first action set piece features one of the biggest Decepticons that we have ever seen – the Demolishor. I was awestruck and confused at the same time: 1- are we in the last act already?! 2- It looked uber freaking cool! 3- I knew that the Robots were battling each other, but who’s hitting who – the same freaking Transformers One syndrome. My brain auto tuned for something bigger! This movie is huge in all f***ing levels! This should have been the 8th movie in the series. It definitely ODed with a heavy splash of Robotism.

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But…… Hey, I am for it! It was basically some 5 line story which died amidst all the action. The humans looked like clowns, hindering the flow of the movie. The Shia-Megan’s love life and Sam Witwicky’s college dreams – huge load of crap! I couldn’t have waited more for the first act to get over. But, when the cool and creepy Decepticons started appearing in different forms, the movie went in to full gear mode. F**k the humans! Transformers is all about robots – whether you love them or hate them, it doesn’t matter. They all can appear and break things apart in the most coolest way possible.

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The architect behind this massive 200m$ monster of a movie, Michael Bay, is essentially the DNA of summer Hollywood action movies. Say whatever you want, this guy has redefined non-stop action to a brand new level. I agree, its mind numbing, illogical and super dumb – but didn’t you see, how f***ing cool, it was! OMG, I wouldn’t mind spending another 13$ to see it again! There is no one in this world who knows how to blow things up and make it look so freaking cool. I can’t wait to see the making of this movie, as I thoroughly enjoyed the making of the first one.

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As far as the hot girls are concerned, Isabel Lucas is so much hotter than Megan Fox; so you get the level of satisfaction in that aspect. Autobots & Decepticons - It is a maze of machines and all you hear is the metal rattling noise for 150mins. One huge action set piece after another, things flying all over and heavy dose of CGI. I need some air to breathe – it was too metallic to handle! Go for it but remember ………… it’s Summer, it’s Transformers and it’s Michael Bay!