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The journey is just beginning for pop sensation Mika. Born in 1983 in Lebanon as Michael Holbrook Penniman, singer songwriter Mika only began his rise to fame in 2007 just two short years ago. Gaining more fame in the European market than in the US Mika is a unique individual who culminates his personal experiences and cultural stereotypes and mores into his work to provide some insight and a huge amount of perspective to his work.
A Celebration it will be when this incredible new Madonna CD hits the store shelves on September 29th. Celebration is exactly that for Madonna, as it is her last release on the Warner Bros label and the singer is heading out the door with a bang with this incredible collaboration of the old and the new.
In 1993, the Backstreet Boys were considered to be just another boy bad that Lou Pearlman put together. The group consisted of five talented singers, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell. Although Kevin Richardson has decided to opt out of this album, to start up a family, his band members are still foreseeing a comeback somewhere in this singers future.
Once again the Backstreet Boys have worked together, minus Richardson, to bring us their seventh, and said to be best, album yet. “This Is Us” is scheduled to be released by RCA Records, in the European areas, on October 5th. The United Stated release, by Jive Records, is scheduled for the following day.
Darren Aronofsky directs ‘The Wrestler’, and serves up one of the best films in recent years against the rough and tumble backdrop of professional wrestling. The film is meticulous in its realistic portrayal of the sports entertainment subculture.
Pro wrestling has been a popular part of American entertainment culture for nearly a century, but until now has been depicted very poorly in the movies. 1962′ ‘Requiem for a Heavyweight’ may be the best wrestling movie ever made until now almost by default. Requiem starred Anthony Quinn as an aging boxer who is at the end of his career and running out of options. He turns to pro wrestling out of financial necessity, and this career move is intended to symbolize his hitting rock bottom.
Rating : Above average (3.8/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2009
Running time : 2 hours 40 minutes
Director : Zoya Akhtar
Cast : Farhan Akhtar, Konkona Sensharma, Dimple Kapadia, Isha Sharvani, Hrithik Roshan, Rishi Kapoor, Juhi Chawla
Kid rating : PG – 13
LUCK BY CHANCE : WELL-TOLD FILMI DRAMA
Technorati tag : Review Luck by chance
I was really looking forward to this film, even though it lacked in the oomph department; Farhan as talented as he is (and he’s really working on those biceps) isn’t quite the man to make one’s heart go pitter-patter. And the Akhtars didn’t dissapoint. Zoya Akhtar’s debut directorial venture is an entertaining, interesting first film.
Better late than never, say I. So, a little late, but here nevertheless are the Top 10 Films of 2008. The year began strong with films like Mithya and Jodhaa Akbar. There were very few blockbusters that did well. This was the year of the “cheapie” – a film with B grade stars, made probably on a small budget. “Hello” was one of these, and so was “Welcome to Sajjanpur”. As always stupidity ruled, and made films like “Singh is Kinng” big hits.
Anyway, enough said; here are my picks :
Rating : Above average (3.9/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2009
Running time : 2 hours
Director : Danny Boyle
Cast : Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Irfan Khan, Anil Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla
Kid rating : PG
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE : HOPE IN THE SLUMS
Technorati tag : Review Slumdog Millionaire
Rating : Above average (3.8/5)
Genre : Thriller/Suspense
Year : 2008
Running time : 3 hours
Director : A. R. Murugadoss
Cast : Amir Khan, Asin, Jiah Khan
Kid rating : PG-13
The remake of the South-Indian original, Ghajini reminds me of the 8o’s revenge based dramas; films like Shiva which, in their turn, were remakes of South-Indian hits. Hence the abundance of large instruments of torture and gory fight scenes which usually end up with a knife in the back or a smashed head. With the color-coordinated songs (clothes match the cars) this film is also reminiscent of older Jeetendra-Sridevi pot-boilers like “Himmatwala” etc.
Rating : Above average (3.75/5)
Genre : Romance
Year : 2008
Running time : 2 hours 47 minutes
Director : Aditya Chopra
Cast : Shahrukh Khan, Anushka Sharma, Vinay Pathak
Kid rating : G
RAB NE BANA DI JODI : GOOD, BUT LACKS FINESSE
The much awaited “Rab ne bana di jodi” lives up to it’s hype – well almost. A film by director Aditya Chopra, this one is a romance. It’s meant to be one of those romances where we are persuaded to believe that true love comes because of inner, and not outer beauty (I could contest this genre by pointing out that such stories abound when the guy is the geek, and the girl is quite beautiful, if not Ms. Universe herself – after all how many times in desi films have you seen a geeky girl get the guy ?).
Rating : Poor (2.5/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2008
Running time : 2 hours 17 minutes
Director : Atul Agnihotri
Cast : Sharman Joshi, Eesha Koppikar, Sohail Khan, Gul Panag, Amrita Arora, Dalip Tahil
Kid rating : PG-13
HELLO : WRONG NUMBER, ANYONE ?
“Hello” is said to be based on Chetan Bhagat’s bestseller “One night at the call center”. And if this is a fair adaptation of the book, I’m not sure I want to read it. The characters in the film are a little juvenile, much too clichéd, and lack depth. I haven’t read the book, but have heard that the charcaters are better sketched out in the book. In the film however they get “shallow-ized” and made palatable for a light, fluffy, doesn’t-mean-too-much desi film with a too-pat ending.
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