The Queen (A brief movie review)

Helen Mirren was pretty good. But then I have always had a thing for her. No, really.

I like elegance and class in general: dining in style, the feel of a good suit, dignified bearing and conduct, choice of words (when not on weed) and all that. So that and a deep interest in history have always drawn me to the sumptuousness and lifestyles of the British monarchy. To be honest, I have never been interested in Diana or the antics of Prince Charles. My interest has always been the Queen and her interaction with parliament. So naturally I decided to watch this movie.

Its a good movie. It plays out during the first week immediately following Princess Diana's death. The guy portraying Tony Blair was very good. He resembled the real man too. I wouldn't call Helen Mirren's portrayal riveting although she was outstanding in some of the difficult scenes such as when she greets some mourners publicly (I thought that I was watching the real Queen). Some of the supporting characters (such as the Queen's private secretary) and her husband (played by the ever versatile James Cromwell) stand out. Others like the guy playing Prince Charles don't. To be fair, he didn't have much to do anyway. We hardly get a glimpe of the two Princes. I didn't feel like missing anything though as my interest in the movie was only relegated to the "relationship" between the Queen and the British Premier. The tight script admirably sticks to the Queen and "Yo, Blair".

Cape Cod Trip

Ok. So I went down to the Cape again. Big deal, man. I took last Friday off on a whim and joined Sudhakar and Dan down in Eastham. We bummed around for two days. The weather was beautiful!

Click pictures below for a larger image.


Some dude was out on one of the numerous (kettle?) ponds in the area.


Almost all of the rail trail (some 25 miles or so) has been repaved gradually over the last two years.


Rock Harbor in Orleans was at really low tide. My spirits on the other hand were at an alltime high.


I did my thing at the amphitheater outside the Salt Pond Visitor center. It did not draw in the crowds. Maybe I should have taken my clothes off. But I wasn't wearing any lingerie. So...yeah.


Ah, finally...the victory pose.


Buttonbush Trail. A brief hike around Salt Pond...did not prove to be our undoing.


Buttonbush Trail.


Buttonbush Trail. I trailed behind Sudhakar and Dan most of the time...and for good reason: such shots became possible. The trail itself was no sweat but then we were only out for a pleasant ramble.


El Diablo.

The ride back to Boston was a breeze.

Cutest Movie Line

Aanchal and Meet in Masti.

In the movie, Masti, the clingy and possessive Aanchal (the super-cute Amrita Rao), calls up her husband, "Meet" Mehta (Vivek Oberoi), on the phone every half hour and gushes, "You miss me, no?"

Sprinting for life

Well my sprinting program is coming along just fine. I can feel myself tightening up all over. There is no more pain behind the knees since I changed my sprint technique a bit. Rather than trying to move as fast as I can, I've been concentrating purely on, well, technique. And bringing my rear foot to my glutes took care of the really sore upper calves issue. In time, I will get faster (as I get stronger on the movement).

I recently bought compression shorts and tried them out for the first time last evening. They made quite a difference when I sprinted last evening after class (I actually had a mid-term; couldn't wait to finish it and get out on to the track). There was a good bit of light remaining and it was a good session. I left feeling refreshed (always a good sign). Now I can't wait for my next session, probably this weekend.

An enigma called Rajnikanth

From humble beginnings as a conductor on a city bus to the second highest paid actor (behind Jackie Chan) in Asia, Rajnikanth has indeed come a long way. In terms of appeal and charisma, he could be described as the Schwarzenegger of India minus the muscles. I say Schwarzenegger because, like the Austrian Oak, Rajnikanth has inspired and continues to inspire tens of millions of people. While Schwarzenegger was directly responsible for the start of a billion dollar fitness industry, which provides a livelihood to the enormous amount of people involved in it, Rajnikanth's contributions have been markedly different. He provides hope to the downtrodden, those fanatic fans of his who look forward to every one of his movies. For the more well-off classes, the arrival of a new movie of Rajnikanth's is something to look forward to as well with the expectancy being more or less same as there is when, say, the Christmas...excuse me, when the holiday season is just around the corner.


Rituals are performed outside a movie theater in India screening Rajnikanth's new release Sivaji.

Did you know that, when a new Rajnikanth movie comes out, his fans (the fanatic ones) actually perform religious rituals right there in movie theaters?! They do this so that the Gods will ensure that the movie has a terrific run in theaters. I have found this behavior both fascinating and revulsing. It is fascinating because it showcases the larger-than-life persona of Rajnikanth and the great deeds (outside of the movie industry) that he is capable of where he to become more ambitious. It is revulsing because these fans look outside, to a single man, for hope, strength and inspiration and it does not look like they are going to change their tune anytime soon. This, in turn, gives rise to the fear that the community and social standards of today, which may well have allowed Rajnikanth to become who he is in the first place, will continue to remain.

Rajnikanth's new movie Sivaji (his first in two years) was recently released in theaters worldwide. I haven't watched it but I heard that it is doing well (number 9 in the UK Box Office as of this writing!). In his movies from the 70s and 80s, he mostly played down to earth roles. But his projects from the 90s and 2000s have shown him in larger than life roles. While Schwarzenegger has found a way out in the form of the Governorship of California, it remains to be seen for how long Rajnikanth or "Thalaivar" (meaning "leader", as his fans love to refer to him) can keep up his momentum as a huge box office draw. Whether he makes the transition to more realistic roles and/or retirement (as an actor) seamlessly is not important anymore given what he has achieved so far.


Fans apparently have been waiting in line for hours to see Sivaji all over the world.

The actor and icon is now in his late fifties. And in Sivaji, special care has been taken to make Rajnikanth appear half his age! To that end, my only gripe is that he never seems to have made an effort to develop and maintain a strong physique (which in his movies is portrayed as being able to absorb an enormous amount of "punishment" with amazing recuperative powers). I can only imagine the quality of the physiques on Indian men evident today had someone like Rajnikanth played an active role in (inadvertently or not) promoting physical culture. It is probably too late now. Nevertheless...a job well done!

The powers that be

I don't know why but I have long held a fascination for power pylons. I think the interest started when I was in my early teens making a trip to Trichy with a family friend. He had some business to attend to and I decided to return to Madurai (my hometown) alone. That was my first time travelling on my own and I found it thrilling (later I remembered my mother scolding that family friend for letting me travel alone). Anyway it was on that "epic journey" back to Madurai in a rickety old bus that some power pylons in the distant haze of the countryside caught my attention. I remembered trying to keep an eye on them almost all the way to the outskirts of Madurai before my eyes started to ache and I had to give up...temporarily. Those giants just stood there "lonely as a cloud". Ever since, whenever I travel, I have always kept my eye out for 'em.

Pearls before Swine

It was kind of amusing that James Berardinelli published a "reelthought" today, called R-Rated Day Care, on his observance of various inappropriate behavior at movie theaters while the above "Pearls before Swine" clip appeared in today's edition of the Boston Herald :)