WALL-E

The good people at Pixar have done it again. Just when the dust was settling from Cars and Ratatouille, here is WALL-E. Though not as thrilling, fast and exciting as the former or sophisticated and story-oriented as the latter, the slow pace and the impassive "faces" of the characters make it easy to imbibe the spirit of this movie. A very strong message is highlighted by carefully though out details like the dark, dull color of earth instead of the usual green as seen from space, the dark oceans, the space junk, slush river and the omnipresent trash compared to the sanitary and robotic yet "peaceful" existence of the people aboard the space cruise liner.
By far the steal of the movie is the adorable Wall-E. It doesn't have the spunk or charm of Lightning McQueen or the rustic hillbilly enthusiasm of 'Mater but the almost expressionless binocular eyes exude pure innocence - almost like that of a newborn baby. Contrast it with the "know-it-all" aura surrounding his friend, EVE, and you have yourself an irresistible pair.
The storyline could have been developed a little more and the pace is slow, but the effort is valiant and so is the theme. My 4 year old son stayed up way past his bedtime to finish the movie and that is a big indicator of the charm of this movie to an audience that does not really get the save-the-Earth message.
A good watch - 3.5/5.

Wild hogs!

Just watched "Wild Hogs" starring Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence, William H.Macy and others. It is an outrageously hilarious movie, an unpretentious commentary on the proverbial "male midlife crisis" and a very down-to-earth response to it. It is certainly a biker movie, with shades of a Western to it, but at heart it is a feel-good comedy with anyone can identify with. The casting is excellent as each character is brought to life especially by the 4 lead actors. I particularly enjoyed the excellent timing of William H.Macy as Dudley, the Geek who gets his fairly tale princess at the end. Also Ray Liotta as Jack "Del Fuego" personifies all the stereotypes that pop culture has set on "biker dudes". A brisk pace, witty dialogues and beautiful picturisation of the open road and the heartland make this movie extremely enjoyable. It even has its version of Mayberry - Madrid NM (pronounced May-drid) complete with the predictable Chili festival, a sheriff who doesn't carry firearms and their favourite pastime, bull-slapping!
The piece de resistance - other than the stunning Marissa Tomeii - is a glimpse of William H. Macy's pale, shrunken, naked butt!
Highly recommended to drive away all your workweek, hard day blues. Definitely a must-see!

The first time......

The thrill and excitement (and subsequent memories) of doing something for the first time cannot be beaten. And along with the most obvious ones like the first kiss, the first car, the first house, the first childbirth, the first time you ever ate a good dish also makes for some wistful thinking. And for me, the memories usually include the taste, the place, the company and best of all, the smell of what I ate.I am going to try to catalog some of my fondest food memories, yet.

- Kahlua coffee - spring break 1999, charleston, south carolina with K and E

- Long Island Iced tea - nobody makes it better than the Outback Steak house on Thousand oaks Blvd in Thousand Oaks, CA and that too with the Kokkaburra wings...Friday nights after work, just me and my honey!!

- Tandoori Chicken - from some iranian cafe at Crawford Market,Bombay with my aai sometime in June/July 1993. Nothing better to wash off the depression of seeing your lifelong dream of becoming a doctor shattered to pieces than polishing off a whole chicken sitting inside a pure veg udipi Hotel Sadanand.

-to be continued.