Avatar

I don’t think I have anything else to say that has not been said before about this movie… other reviewers have compared this to Dances With Wolves, and a bunch of other movies. However, I will say, it is an animation sci-fi movie… and expecting a perfect story line and a novel plot with twists and turns from an animation movie is just not worth it, and will only lead to disappointment and rob the experience that the director may have intended to provide.

I say this because all the reviews I read, even the good ones, seem to chastise this movie on the grounds of having a very clichéd plot and that there is nothing much to the story. Of course there is nothing much to the story, but there is much more than that, at the same time. The visual effects are so spell-binding that my rational side just went out for a two-and-a-half hour walk. (we did reunite outside the theatre though, after the movie)

Kollywood/Bollywood movies attempt gravity defying stunts peppered into an otherwise extremely lame movie, which in turn makes the stunts themselves uber-lame, to begin with. At some levels Avatar is similar to these movies; a mediocre story embellished with grey matter melting CGI. Therefore, in essence, if one is predisposed to watching and enjoying heavily CGI oriented movies without getting bogged down with the hows, whys, and such very meaningful life altering questions, AVATAR would be a fantastic journey through a new planet rich in vegetation, and marvellous creatures… and most of all a bioluminescent planet which glows at night.

My curious mind however, led me to take off the 3D glasses every now and then, trying to discern whether that particular scene was rendered in true-3D or was just a set seamlessly integrated with perfection to blend in with the following/preceding CGI scenes… and yes, there were a few scenes on the planet Pandora, that may have been just shot on-set, but looked so real, that if one were actually wearing the 3D glasses during the entire length of the movie, one would not know the difference (obviously, right?). (There, I spoilt it for whomever reading this drivel)

Overall, the movie was just {insert favourite positive adjectives} , and is worth watching once (or twice, maybe) on the big screen…and like Roger Ebert says, the King, is certainly back.

Experiments with food

Dinner menu, Saturday: Pita, with a Mexican twist.

Ingredients: corn, white onions, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, medium spicy salsa, black beans, shredded cheddar cheese, pita bread and hummus.

• Slightly sautéed the onions, bell peppers and corn
• Heated the pita bread mildly, just until it becomes a little soft
• Placed the pita on a proportionate piece of Aluminium foil, and spread some hummus on one side of the pita
• Laid out a small portion of the sautéed vegetables towards the centre of the pita
• Added a big spoonful of the cooked black beans on top of the vegetables
• Sprinkled a little cheddar on top
• And finally, added a couple of spoons of spicy salsa on top

Now, fold/roll the pita so that it looks like a Taco/Pita…and BITE in!

I personally ate 3 of those! Heaven…  :-)

Zombieland

Barely scary, this movie is outrageously hilarious, even if not intended in some places…. but then maybe it is intended and I actually got the joke… that is besides the point.

This movie reminded me of Shaun of the Dead.. starring Simon Pegg… boy! that was a gut buster.

Finally a different zombie movie, which is not necessarily about gore… in fact for the most part it is not… of course there are a couple scenes that involve some scattered flesh, and a few with blood spatters and such… but then, after all, it is a zombie movie.

Woody Harrelson is his usual silly self.. and the other skinny dude is just awesome!