Year 2025 - Jurassic Mars

**Not a review**

Recently after watching Jurassic World 3D, I realized that no theater in Chennai has a good quality of projecting the 3D film. I’m referring to the brightness in the projection. A quick search in the Google ended up to find that it was the same norm in all parts of the world. The picture is dark as we are wearing the glasses, so there needs to be extra light watts to the projection bulb, which they don’t do. So the effort done by the film makers goes in to drain. Discussing the issue in an FB forum most echoed my views and suggested Luxe in Phoenix Mall which seems to got a good 3D projection.

Back to the film, it didn’t excite me much, especially for a 1990’s kid who grew up by seeing Jurassic Park (I treasured a yellow T-shirt then), all I saw now was the reminiscences (People call it homage) of the first part. Visually it was following its predecessor, the story-line was also the same. Park with animals put in a controlled environment. An accident or incident happens to make the animals to escape. Kids are trapped and they are saved. Finally there is this grand showdown among the animals and the whole mankind escapes from the island.

The funny part is when the raptures talks (communicates) with Indominus Rex. If it has been any other film, people would have laughed out their ass. It takes a kid to suggest a bigger dinosaur? ufff. Any how people loved it! There isn’t much difference between 1993 and 2015 version.

To facilitate a sequel, Dr. Henry Wu escapes with the dinosaurs DNA. I hope the next part after a decade will be set in Mars, where InGen will set its store as Jurassic Mars.

Bye Bye CIFF

Chennai International Film Festival got over on December 25th, but I’m updating this column late, because I had to travel for a long weekend (Got to give some excuse for being lazy!).

The last day, which was my 4th day in the CIFF. Having already seen 5 films in the festival, I thought of making the money worth spent (Rs 500 for the pass). This was not strictly on ROI, but to make use of the opportunity and see as much films as I can, else my main source is torrents. 

I had a chance to catch two films on the last day. Behaviour (Conducta), a film from Cuba. A film about a young boy and to-be retired teacher. The boy, who is having behavioral issues, due to his family condition is given support by the teacher, who in-turn makes him to realize his responsibility.

The next film was from Serbia, Monument to Michael Jackson. A light comic story of a man who proposes an idea of having statue of Michael Jackson in their town to get tourists.

Having seen two back to back films, we (Me, Mahesh and Bragadeesh) were hungry. The nearby eateries were crowded, so we had to skip the 4:30 PM show. We took refuge inside EA.

In spite of Mahesh reminding about the CIFF booklet, I missed it. When we went back to Woodlands the front office was closed and all the staff were busy for the closing ceremony. 

Overall, my first experience was good. Sacrificing (sleep) for an art always satisfies the soul!. I dont have any qualms about the event, some said last year there were 8 screens, whereas this year it was only 5. I sticked to Woodlands and didn't take chances in hopping theaters (Chennai Traffic!).

Next year, if I’m available in the city, I’ll surely visit CIFF-2015.

Previous CIFF-2014 posts

My Day 1- www.teashoptalks.blogspot.com/2014/12/my-first-day-in-film-fest.html

My Day 2- www.eashoptalks.blogspot.com/2014/12/potti-maaripochi-in-ciff.html

My Day 3- www.teashoptalks.blogspot.com/2014/12/my-day-3-at-ciff.html

My Day 3 at CIFF

It was my day 3 (Wednesday 24th Dec) in CIFF (Chennai International Film Festival), but it was it’s day 7!!. I was absent for the 4 days. I thought catching up to three films, but had a chance to only see two. Got to get to the office at 5:30 PM.

Already missed out my “not-to-miss” films like Leviathan, Moebius and Winter Sleep, so I did not take time to go through the options available across different venues. The best bet is to go Woodlands and play “inki-pinki-ponki” and select the films.

The first film was “The Sentimentalist”, a movie from Greece. The announcer in her sweet voice said, the movie has dialogues both in English and Greek. And so, there is no sub-titles available as it will be easily understandable. But, in the entire movie, there was only one scene which had a dialogue in English, even in that half of the wordcount were “fucking.. fucking.. fucking”, otherwise marunduku kuda English dialogues nahi. I (most of us) had experienced today, the expression “it sounds like Greek and Latin”.

The movie was stylishly shot. In spite of no sub-titles, I was able to make a story out of it, the crowd politely accepted the movie without subs (I guess this is normal in a filmfest!).

For lunch, I did not want to take chances with Royapettai briyani’s shops. I don't have a steel stomach. Found a small veg hotel in Quaid-e-Millath Road. I owe them two rupees as I didn't have change!.

The next film was from the Indian Panorama section “Munnariyippu” starring Mammootty. 

The very first scene of the movie, when the credits starts we see a dead lizard is taken\dragged by a bunch of ants. This scene sets the pace of the film and we might interpret on how the main character Raghavan (Mammootty) might be dragged or nagged by others. BTW, it is good to see Mammootty set asides his stardom and performs for the sake of the character and not for his brand (I guess this is normal for Malayalam mainstream actors, but not lately).

By 3/4th of the film, we tend to guess on how the film might unfold, as Raghavan irks the viewers and the other characters in the film. But we fail to anticipate the climax. The full story of Raghavan’ past is untold, we tend to get only bits and pieces of it. Maybe, that's why the film succeeds. 

Will see if I can catch few films in the last day.

My Previous two posts on CIFF-

www.teashoptalks.blogspot.com/2014/12/my-first-day-in-film-fest.html
www.teashoptalks.blogspot.com/2014/12/potti-maaripochi-in-ciff.html

Potti Maaripochi in CIFF

My Day 2 in the Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF)- I wonder why they want to add the word “International”, they should have kept just “Chennai Film Festival”. Is it because they screen movies from around the world?

Before starting every movie and in their promotions they add “In support from Tamil Nadu Government” and to note, there is a big banner in which it is written “From the blessings of AMMA”. Makkal’in Mudalvar’ presence is there, you cannot escape from amma in Tamil Nadu.

Back to the business part, I went to catch-up at least two films- 5 PM and 7:15 PM.

5 PM show in Woodlands was scheduled for a Bulgarian film Roseville, but they started to play an Italian film “Like A Wind” (potti maariduchi- I guess this is normal in an event like this!). Most of the audience realized it when the title got displayed, but the people who were telecasting\projecting it realized after 15-20 minutes. Then the movie was stopped abruptly and the Roseville film was started. When Roseville started, the lady in the mic announced they are playing the correct film now! An appropriate excuse could have been sought.

Back to the actual business about the film- Roseville. It started as an average Hollywood B-Grade film, like “people driving through the forest and a creature appearing from nowhere”. The plot moved like Kubrick’ “The Shining”. 120 minutes running-time was too much for the film, they could have reduced it to 90 minutes. Sound design and the background score were good.

Before, catching up the next film got a chance to meet my fellow blogger Mahesh. Had a quick chat with him. Rushed in for little refreshment and "chucha".

Next film- Nuoc (2030), a Vietnamese film about raising sea levels. The cinematography was good in capturing the rough sea (Or is it my delusion, because I sat too near to the screen).

My Previous CIFF related post- http://teashoptalks.blogspot.in/2014/12/my-first-day-in-film-fest.html

**Above Image from Nuoc film.

My First Day In A Film Fest

While reading this piece of writing, people may think I’m too excited and exaggerating my experience, but attending a film festival is in my list of “to-do” items for a long time, I kept skipping it for years. So there is no harm in writing about it!

On the 2nd day of the Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF), I took some time from my busy schedule (Iddu reel’u!) and narrowed on the 3 PM show at Woodlands. My target was a movie from The Netherlands- Tuscan Wedding, but I also had an option of 2.45 PM show at Symphony (Adomaya. Life Goes On - An Assamese film).

I was able to reach the theater sooner than I expected and thought of catching up the 2:45 PM show. I parked the bike (free parking only in Woodlands). As said before, I was excited. Walked into the theater and choose my seat.

They announced to switch off the mobile phones, everyone smartly put their phones in the silent mode. Movie started. With in few minutes, I realized that I forgot to take the key from the bike. I was sure the key is in the bike, because that’s my routine way of forgetting it. I was about to move out, but I don't want to ruin my first experience. For few minutes, I couldn't concentrate on the movie. From my past similar experiences, I know the key is perfectly camouflaged and it’s hardly got noticed by the people passing through it (I once, left it on a busy street), so I took a chance (Kurutu daiyriam).

I continued to watch the film. Occasionally, someone was whispering “hello.. nan theater’la irukeen” and some frustrated souls walked away in the middle of the film (May be they had forgot something like me).

Clap.. clap.. clap the film ends.

Oh!! what happen to the key ?- It was there in the bike and the bike was there untouched!.

Note: There is a photo exhibition happening in Woodlands. Theme- Cinema Halls.

Web link for the festival- www.chennaifilmfest.com

Have some hot egg puffs ?

I haven't travelled much outside Tamil Nadu. My farthest north is Thirupathi!. But just by the question-knowledge ( Kelvi Ghyanam ), I fell Chennai is the city which got most number of tea shops. Most of them open at morning 4 AM and close at 11 PM at night. 

These shops have their own way of selling. A crowded shop, that too in the prime-time its hard to get a cup of tea. You can get an autograph from Power Star easily, but not a single cup of tea from the master. We have to stand next to the hot boiler and watch the tea master like a eagle. As soon as he keeps the glass, we have to grab it, otherwise someone will take it and again we have to wait for 2-3 mins. There is not much “selling technique” needed in these crowded shop, the demand keeps them going.

I don't know how to label this selling, lets say “Persuasive selling”, in Tamil we term it as “Kuvi kuvi vikuradu”. You can see this kind of selling in places where the supply (tea shop) easily satisfy the demand (customer). One such place is near Sathyam theater, Royapettah. 

After a long time, in fact after an year, I went to Sathyam last week. Left and right to the main entrance there are cluster of tea shops. I’m not sure about the ones on the right to Sathyam as they are always crowded. There is this shop in left, the very next shop, right next to the gate. This is a one-man tea shop. We can get anything- from different lemon juices, softdrinks, tea, puffs, weekly magazine, newspaper, cigarettes, etc..

As there was still 40 mins for the show, I thought of having something chill to beat the summer heat. When I went near the shop, I didn't even attempt to ask the shop-guy anything, but he asked “Sir, enna venum?”. I said “Oru lime”. Boom in few seconds the lime was ready. He asked me if I want some egg puffs. I said no and walked away from the shop. Having the lime and noticing the theatrics of the mini-police station outside the theater. 

The shop was little long for a normal tea shop. One end on the left- juices and magazines. The other end on the right is tea and eatables. A guy with a blue shirt came from the left and asked for puffs, while tea shop guy was walking to the right to take the puffs another guy with a red T-shirt came and asked for a tea. As usual the tea shop guy asked this red T-shirt to have puffs, he said no, but by this time, the tea shop guy had already taken the puff and cut into two pieces and offered it to the red T-shirt. But the red T-Shirt was in no mood to take it and refused. The puff was then given to the blue shirt who originally ordered it. Red T-shirt had his tea. 

The whole incident happened in 15-20 secs. It was swift, tricky and spontaneous. There  was no sale, but it was worth to try.

I leave it to you to interpret the art of selling from the above incident. To experience it- go and stand near to that tea shop next to Sathyam. Let me know your experience ?

**The Above image by the blogger :-)

Wanted - A Cinema Theater

@ Above- A grab from the film Cinema Paradiso

I don't clearly remember how and when I picked up seeing World Cinema, but I think it has to be from Dooradarshan channel. Longtime back they used to play foreign-language films on Sunday nights, this was in National television and in Metro. Then DD Podhigai, Tamil-language channel of Dooradarshan started telecasting foreign-language ( non-English ) on Saturday afternoons, the best part was the sub-titles will be in Tamil.

For some reason, these screenings were stopped, maybe IFFI didn't have much stock!. But the interest in me was still there, I used to read about films- Ananda Vikatan carried a series which talked about World Cinema, it was written by Chezian ( Cinematographer of Paradesi ). Nizhal, a Tamil monthly magazine, which talked about cinema. This magazine is not available in most of the stands, not sure if they have a magazine now, but they have an online presence (http://nizhal.in/).

Till then I had watched only handful of films through DD. Now, no way to watch the films, as the private TV screening were mostly of Hollywood films. And, I had to get content with it. Then came the grey-market, some non-English movies started to arrive. The guys in these market were good in their subject-matter, one guy suggested to watch Akiro Kurusawa’ Yajimbo!. The problem, I felt with these DVD’s were these exclusive shops were not next door, had to travel to specific places in the city, so going there and buying one or two was not cost effective, so I had to get it in bulk. By just seeing 20-30 DVD’s I got confused which to watch first!. 

Wikipedia and IMDb became main sources to pick films. So to know about the movies from different countries, sometimes I would go to the nearby browsing center, not to read, but take print-out of the Wiki articles as much as possible ( Save reading time!). Meanwhile, S Ramakrishnan’ Ulaga Cinema was a super resource. While he introduced good films, some were too hard to comprehend. Later, I realized that I shouldn't take “top 10, 100, 500 films” just by the list’ face value. By this time, torrents became available.

At first I didn't think downloading a movie from the internet was possible, I would say “are you kidding”. When I realized the reality, I thought to try it. But, I just had a Wireless Tata connection, which was a dial-up speed. So I would use the download in nights as it was free. It took a week for me to download Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope ( Now, I can do it in 30 mins ). Mininova, isohunt, piratebay the list goes on. Especially piratebay, these guys are like phoenix, they raise whenever it is blocked and the media tells they are dead. I personally feel torrents are great technology and it is not illegal as I’m not paying for it. The seeder doesn't get any monetary gains, it is like borrowing from the neighbor.

In Chennai, without the above mentioned avenues, the only way to catch the films will be film festivals, which is hard to schedule time, even if we do, I guess we can see only handful of movies. I seriously believe films has to been seen in a movie theater. Some cinema hall or an organization has to come-up with a plan of screening World Cinema 365 days or at least one show per week to start will be fine. I don't want to be part of a special elite group, the venue has to be for the general public. 

Places Where We Are Impatient

Impatient

Adjective - Having or showing a tendency to be quickly irritated or provoked.
Synonyms – eager, restless, intolerant, agog, restive

Places where we, mostly men (For Women- some female can write guest post) are impatient.

1. First is while driving, a bike, a car or a donkey. We can’t wait for traffic signals to turn green and we jump the signal.
2. While waiting for tea in the Tea Kadai. Someone will take the one meant for you. Enaku vecha tea engee!!
3. While travelling in the bus, once we sense our stop is about to come, we can’t sit.
4. Again, while on road, if someone stops their vehicle in front of ours just for 2 seconds. Honk.. Honk
5. In Cinema Theater, even though we have seats reserved for us, we jump the queue to get inside the movie hall. At the most it will take 3 minutes to get through any crowd.
6. In a restaurant, when you ask for a spoon or a fork and the waiter takes 30 seconds to bring it.
7. In petrol bunks- If we see a queue, 2 to 3 vehicles before us. Again here we jump the queue. At the most it will take 10 minutes.
8. While in home- If you mom comes in front of the TV and marachify your view. Precious 2 seconds gone.
9. While waiting in the temple queue for the darisanam.
10. Again in temple, jump the queue where theertham or prasadam is distributed.
11. We will always try to get into the full loaded elevator, we can’t wait for 2 minutes.
12. Pedestrians, while crossing the road. Some walk as if they are zombies, they see you but they don’t recognize or mind you as a being. And the impatient vehicles squeeze through a narrow space, just like in how Will Smith rides the space-ship in the climax of Independence Day.
13. DVD is stuck or while downloading, if you are seeing a movie in thirituvcd.
14. While waiting outside the ATM booth and if someone is inside counting their hard earned money.
15. To read a lengthy, scribbling like the following post, check this.