Role Models

Directed by David Wain

Released in 2008.

Didn't like it! Didn't like it! Too predictable! Didn't enjoy the whole fantasy game aspect. Ugh! Too predictable, not funny enough. Depended too much an bawdiness and profanity. I'm the last person to object to those two things in and of themselves but you have to give me more if you want me to laugh with your movie. Saving grace: Paul Rudd of course!

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Directed by Kevin Smith

Released in 2008.

I really enjoyed the movie. Romantic comedy is quite a departure for Kevin Smith but then this romantic comedy is in some ways quite a departure from the genre itself. Two friends fall in love while they make a porno to make ends meet. It's very po-mo and extremely irreverent, not to mention a great set up for comedy. But it was a let down in other ways since the logic of the romantic comedy genre had to win over and in the end the porno subplot was quite unceremoniously thrown into a closet so that the hero and the heroine could have their perfectly cliched, foot-popping moment. Gag!

The Bluest Eye

Written by Toni Morrison

Published in 1970.

Morrison's command over the English language is exquisite. The novel was an absolute pleasure to read, a veritable masterpiece. Another book written from the eyes of children, it examined racism, both self-inflicted and otherwise, that blacks were a victim of in the America of the 70s. Careful thought and deep feeling is apparent in the construction of every phrase of that book. It put me in awe of Toni Morrison.

A Fraction of the Whole

Written by Steve Toltz

Published in 2008.

Extremely funny. Extremely long. The only reason I would reread it though is that it is about an unadjusted genius who spends his life from beginning to end without fully tapping his potential or doing anything significant at all. Oddly comforting, I have to say.

Funny Boy

Written by Shyam Selvadurai

Published in 1994.

Very touching book about a young boy coming to terms with his sexuality and with the ethnic tensions in Sri Lanka. Written from the point of view of the young protagonist, the book, without masking the cruelty of the ethnic riots in Sri Lanka, manages to undercut ethnic loyalties with the cross-ethnic relationships that evolve almost surreptitiously – against everyone's wishes, even those in the relationships – and gives some hope for the success of the ties of humanity over the ties of ethnicity, if not in the Sri Lanka of the novel, then in some other time or place.

Vernon God Little

Written by DBC Pierre

Published in 2003.

AMazingly hilarious. Had me laughing so hard that I was crying. Based in small town America where some unhinged kid shoots everyone in his highschool except his best friend Vernon. The entire town, looking for blood, tries to pin the blame on him. It satirizes everything from the media to small town life to America itself. I am having such great luck with books these days. They've all been fabulous! What are you reading???

The White Tiger

Written by Aravind Adiga

Published in 2008

This book really deserved the Man Booker. Adiga looked unflinchingly at the underbelly of India. No that's not entirely true. Adiga looked unflinchingly at modern "prosperous" India through the eyes of those at the bottom of the country. This book probably pissed off a whole lot of Indians since it trashes India's economic progress and democracy, everything Indians and the rest of the world have been enthusiastically chirruping about. The book makes India sound exactly like Pakistan: rampant inequality, almost no social mobility and a near unbridgeable divide between those from the "Darkness" (the stagnant villages) and the "Light" (the modern cities). Through all the awful Paki fiction I've read, I've wondered whether it is possible for upper class English-medium novelists to really represent the lower class of our nation. I think Adiga does a stand up job at it. Satire and ruthlessly dark humour make the book only sharper and more damning. You must read it Ali.

Hot, Flat, and Crowded

Written by Thomas Friedman

Published in 2008.

This book was a great read. Friedman defines a very urgent global problem, the huge energy shortage in the face of overpopulation, global warming and an expanding global middle class. He proposes a paradigm shift from dirty fuels to clean fuels using technology to integrate the energy market. It is a visionary book and his picture of the post-clean-energy-revolution world is really quite stunning.

The Bubble

Directed by Eytan Fox

Released in 2006.

Gay Israel-Palestinian love story. It has its moments but quite predictably it exploits the love story as a political symbol and I was not very convinced by the development of their romance. But as I said, it had its moments and the end did leave me a bit teary-eyed.

Tropic Thunder

Directed by Ben Stiller

Released in 2008

Hilarious! Amazing satire of Hollywood. This is what Om Shanti Om should have done for Bollywood. Tom Cruise was especially fantastic as balding studio mogul.

Blindness

Directed by Fernando Meirelles

Released in 2008

Another disappointing movie. Very kitsch. The idea was doomed from the start I guess. How does one make a book about the very visceral experience of blindness into a movie where people watch things from the outside...

The Secret Life of Bees

Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood

Released in 2008.

Badly directed and shoddily written. Dakota Fanning has turned into a very gangly and unattrative teenager and a not-so-impressive actor. Very disappointing.

The House of the Spirits

Written by Isabel Allende
Published in 1985.

The best book I have read in a very long time. Allende knows how to tell a story: her eye for detail and her powerful imagination shine through in this masterpiece of magic realism.

A story about three generations of a family, which much like Marquez's family in One Hundred Years of Solitude, lives in a nameless South American country. But Allende's family saga begins somewhere in the early 1900s and traces the lineage of conservative and patriarchal feudal lord, Esteban Garcia.

The book made me marvel at how similar the histories of Pakistan and a lot of South American countries are. They bounce between illusory democracies through which the traditional elite consolidate their power and brutal military dictatorships.

We follow the slow but steady transformation of society and the Garcia family which open up to liberal, socialist and communist ideas. The gradual shift in political power is suddenly stopped and the prevailing system of government overthrown towards the end of the novel by a barbaric coup. The atrocities described in the book chilled me to the bone. They made me realize how tenuous our position in these societies is; how quickly decades of progress can be wiped out; and how brutally people fight for ideologies.

But don't be put off by the political tenor of the last fifty pages, which I dwelt on for so long. The first four hundred and fifty are full of enthralling stories about people, some very enchanting people, might I add. While reading this book, I thought that your own novel would maybe look very much like this one.

Three Cups of Tea

Written by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

Published in 2006

Finally read the book. Remember how big a deal they made out of it at Harvard? Both the authors were there for talks and such. This Mortenson fellow built over 50 schools in Pakistan's Karakoram. I wonder how many are still standing after all that has been happening in the North.

It is an OK book. The story is great, inspirational, but the writing is uninspiring. Relin basically wrote the book. He is a journalist or something, but he really has not done his research. The book was filled with factual errors. NWFP was repeatedly called Northwest Frontier Provinces and the azan was called hazzan... Those are just two things that I remember.

But it is a book that attempts to fill the knowledge gap that Americans have about Pakistan. Effort appreciated.

Burn After Reading

Directed by the Coen brothers

Released in 2008

Fucking hilarious! This movie was too good! Idiot Americans draw swords with the equally idiotic  intelligence agencies. Lovely comedy of errors!

Zorro

Written by Isabel Allende

Published in 2005.

Great read! Allende has a real talent for telling stories.

The Way of the World

Written by Ron Suskind

Published in 2008

This book is phenomenal. Utterly, completely, insanely relevant and hugely intelligent. If nothing else Ali, borrow the book from Lamont and read Chapter 1 about Usman Khosa.

The book outlines how America failed miserably after 9/11, when instead of rallying the world to unitedly fight the al-Qaeda, it blustered and blundered and lost all its credibility and moral authority. He follows people ranging from Bush to an Afghan exchange student to Benazir to MI5 agents and Guantanamo lawyers. You have to read this book, Ali! It puts the gut feelings that so many of us have about the way the world is going today into an exquisite and ultimately hopeful narrative.

Must read!

Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist.

Didn't expect much from the movie at all and was delightfully surprised at how well made it was. A masked rip-off of Juno but original in its own little way. The story follows Nick's character; rather shy, awfully awkward but a surprisingly cool, if somewhat geeky, guy, through a messy break-up. Enter Nora character; a girl with too much money but a heart of gold, a total pushover but level-headed and smart.

The whole movie takes place over the course of one drunken, debauched night, when the two characters finally meet, par hasard, to look for a band in nyc, called 'where's fluffy?'.

If Mrs. Dalloway was a woman's whole life in the course of one single day, then this movie is the life of a relationship over the course of one single new york minute. Awesome fun filled merriment for a whole new generation of confused, sexually desensitized teens.

Warning: Do NOT watch while consuming vast quantities of buttered popcorn. You WILL throw up-->guaranteed.

Testimony

Written by Anita Shreve

Published in 2008

Not very great fiction. Story revolves around sex scandal in New England boarding school. Ruins tons of lives. It is told through this annoying device. All the different characters narrate their events to a researcher from U Vermont, who is not a substantial character by herself. It was a pleasant enough read but nothing groundbreaking or earth-shattering.

Tales of Two Cities

Written by Kuldip Nayar and Asif Noorani.

Published in 2008.

Two journalists' recollection of the partition. Nayar left from Sialkot to Delhi, Noorani from Bombay to Karachi. Noorani's bit was really well written and quite humourous. Interesting book but not tremendous.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua

Directed by Raja Gosnell

Released in 2008.

Horrendously vapid! Just as bad as one would expect it to be. And I have to review it for the Herald. Horrors!

Notes from The Underground

By: Fyodor Fostoyevsky

A must read! The central character is worthy of praise and disgust. The story is narrated in first person by an ambiguous and mysterious Underground man who revels in the misery of others and delights in his own lack of self worth. He's a low, sickly creature, inhabiting the depths of a mind plagued by consciousness, philosophizing at odd instances about life, love and the nature of freedom.

There is no actual plot in the first half of the book. An awful, self-pitying rant about the pain and disgust he feels filters through his mind and find its way to us, the proposed subject of his monologue, the hypocritical and vile reader. There is no redemption; no catharsis; no sense of purpose, meaning or direction, merely a menacing account of his own sense of self, being and crippled pride.

A fascinating study about the human psyche and the moral degradation that follows from years of stifling the spirit and torturing the consciousness. It's a great read and will change the way you think yo!

Intimacy

Written by Hanif Kureishi

Published in 1999.

This was a wonderful read. It was a short but extremely astute book. It is a first person narrative of a man's thoughts the night before he leaves his wife. We read so many books and watch so many movies about men leaving, but they are all from the perspectives of the wife or children; the man who leaves is always the villain. This book puts you in the leaving man's shoes: you experience his uncertainty, his guilt and desperation, as well as his hope and desire for something more than what his life has become. It is an extremely intelligent portrait of a generation of men who are turning old as society begins to allow freedoms and pleasures that were inconceivable in their youth. It is the modern heterosexual male's psyche and sexuality dissected and put under a microscope. Plus, it had a great many amazing quotes. I am writing down some of my favorites:

"One makes mistakes, gets led astray, digresses. If one could see one's crooked progress as a kind of experiment, without wishing for an impossible security – nothing interesting happens without daring – some kind of stillness might be attained."

"Fear is something I recognize. My childhood still tastes of fear; of hours, days, and months of fear. Fear of parents, aunts and uncles, of vicars, police and teachers, and of being kicked, abused and insulted by other children. The fear of getting into trouble, of being discovered, and the fear of being castigated, smacked, ignored, locked in, locked out, as well as the numerous other punishments that surrounded everything you attempted. There is, too, the fear of what you wanted, hated and desired; the fear of your own anger, the fear of retaliation and of annihilation. There is habit, convention and morality, as well as the fear of who you might become. It isn't surprising that you become accustomed to doing what you are told while making a safe place inside yourself, and living a secret life. Perhaps that is why stories of spies and double lives are so compelling. It is, surely, a miracle that anyone ever does anything original."

These are just two really profound passages. The book as a whole is a lot less sweeping and very much attuned to the individual character, even if it does remain for its 155 pages mostly contemplative in tone.

Sleepless in Seattle

Directed by Nora Ephron

Released in 1993.

Cute. But I really don't like Tom Hanks and in this movie I didn't like Meg Ryan either. You've Got Mail is just so much better. It is kinda hard to believe how similar the two movies are. Also, don't you think chick flicks have improved with time?

Benny's Video

Directed by Michael Haneke

Released in 1992.

This movie was fucked up! It came no where close to The Piano Teacher, but still! It opens with this grainy video of someone putting a gun to a pig's head and blowing its brains out. The pig squeals and squirms. The video stops, is rewound and then from right before the gunshot played in slowmo again. This video, we find out is being watched by Benny, a perhaps thirteen-year old German kid, who, it soon becomes apparent, is a total sociopath. He is obsessed with videos and his emotionally detached parents have bought him tons of video equipment. With this, he makes a snuff film by shooting this homeless girl three times with the same gun used to kill the pig.

The movie is not so much gruesome as it is shocking. Haneke himself has described it as a movie about the emotional glaciation of people in highly industrialized nations. Boy! I could not agree more with that definition. It was an extremely disturbing movie not just because of Benny's actions but also because of his parent's reactions when they see his snuff film. As I said: fucked up!

The Motorcycle Diaries

Directed by Walter Salles

Released in 2004

I have been meaning to watch this movie for a while now and I am really glad I finally got around to it. With every Latin American movie I watch, my respect for their cinema grows. The story was great, the direction extremely intelligent and the cinematography stunning. It is a slow-paced movie but by no means was it a boring one. Funny at first and then poignant, it kept me emotionally, intellectually and visually engaged throughout.

Saas bahu aur Sensex

Directed by Shona Urvashi

Released in 2008.

This movie was only so so. It was certainly not your stereotypical Bollywood movie though. Starring Kiron Kher, the movie was about a divorced mother and her twenty-something daughter who move from Delhi to Bombay to start over. The story is about the lives of the people in their new apartment complex. The Sensex (the Mumbai stock exchange), and through it Indian economic prosperity, remains a firm presence in the entire movie. It breaks appreciably from standard Urdu-ized Bollywood dialogues and represents language more realistically. The ethnic differences in speaking Hindi are not suppressed (the mother and daughter are quite firmly identified as Bengali). English is also much more prominent in the movie. I really appreciated the movie's effort to reinvent the image of the Indian middle class in Bollywood, but its undoing was a very uninteresting story-line and unusually dull characters.

White Mughals

Written by William Dalrymple

Published in 2002.

This book is a must read! It is about late 18th and early 19th century India. Dalrymple describes the earlier colonial encounter between the British and the Indians. The two people mingled – surprisingly enough – on equal footing and with mutual respect. Numerous Britons adopted Muslim and Hindu culture to a huge degree. They kept many Indian concubines and many even had loving and longlasting marriages with Indian women. We do not hear or read much about this early colonial encounter because our opinion of colonization is entirely coloured by post-1857 encounters when the British were firmly masters of India and when they had stopped viewing Indian civilization with wonder and respect rather than disgust and disdain. To me, this 18th century trend seems like the reverse of contemporary South Asian migration to the West, where the immigrants inevitably assimilate into Western culture.

And do not fear, it is not written like a history textbook. It is actually structured around the love story of James Achilles Kirkpatrick and a Hyderabadi noblewoman Khair un Nissa. Their love story happens when the older attitudes towards India are giving way to the modern colonial approach, which is partly responsible for the story's tragic end. It is, once again, a must read. Borrow it from Lamont! I am going to try and get my hands on Dalrymple's other book: The Last Mughal, I think it is called.

Letting Go

Written by Philip Roth

Published in 1962.

Interesting enough, I suppose. The most fascinating part about the book was the glimpse it afforded of American society in the 50s. There was none of today's political correctness then. People identified with their religious/ethnic groups much more strongly than today. The Catholics built their lives around their religion and their community and the Jews did likewise. Intermarriage was an earth-shattering action and religious institutions did not sanction them. Of course racism against blacks and jews was prevalent and there was none of today's consumerism.

The story, which moved at snail's pace, had its moments. I think Roth was at his best on his tangents when he explored the characters' histories. 

A Spoiled Man

Written by Daniyal Mueenuddin.

Published in The New Yorker in 2008.

I liked the story. It is about those lives on the fringes of our moneyed existence, which grow and wither without anyone really taking notice of them. I appreciated the fact that Mueenuddin took notice of one such life even though I felt that parts of it lacked imagination.

Hancock

Directed by Peter Berg

Released in 2008.

Yuk yuk yuk! What a horrid movie. I had to wash my eyes with mouthwash to get the smell of that movie out of my pores. It was supposed to be a story about a hero finding his way and then halfway through loses it and becomes a sort of immortals' love story ala Anne Rice vampire novels. I felt very abused. Also Will Smith makes me gag. Also also Charlize Theron looks oooooold. Yuk.

Forrest Gump

Directed by Robert Zemeckis

Released in 1994.

This is the director of Back to the Future? I had no idea! It was nice though. Gump was such a charming character. Jenny on the other hand was so annoying. Why doesn't Gump seem to age? That was kinda weird.

Have you seen this movie? Did you think it went on for too long? I was kinda sick of it by the end.

Drop Dead Gorgeous

Directed by Michael Patrick Jann.

Released in 1999.

Now this movie was an amazing piece of satire. Why am I not surprised that Jann directed Reno 911! For the record, Allison Janney is amazing! I love the part when all the girls lose it when they get to Alabama for the nationals and find Sarah Rose shut down. Double lols.

The Further Adventures of a London Call Girl

Written by Belle de Jour.

Published in 2006.

Ack! Not worth reading beyond the first fifty pages of raunchy call girl sex. I think Tiffanie has already read all the best parts to us. The call girl falls for her crazy, asshole ex and the rest of the diary is just her bitching even as she continues to see his adulterous ass. It is like a raunchier and more boring version of Bridget Jones.

A Case of Exploding Mangoes

Written by Mohammed Hanif.

Published in 2008.

Funny. It was really quite hilarious. Best piece of satire I've read in a while – but that could be because I don't read much satire. The portrait he drew of a sniveling, paranoid Zia was just delicious. You should really go read the book. I think you'll enjoy it.

Rock On!!

Directed by Abhishek Kapoor.

Released in 2008.

I hoped for a fun, modern, well-written movie along the lines of Dil Chahta Hai and Jaane Tu. But it was quite a let down. The script was sub par. Doomed the whole movie. Very disappointing.

Cakes and Ale

Author: W.S. Maugham.

Published in 1930.

I kinda liked it by the end. I really enjoyed his style of writing. Very sardonic first-person narrative. Very British. Everything understated and subtle. The dialogue absolutely hilarious in its stuffiness and subtext.

But the book did not have much of a plot. The narrator, who is a writer by the name of William Ashenden, is prompted by his writer-friend Alroy Kear to write about his acquaintance, a great writer by the name of Thomas Driffield, who died recently. Ashenden writes down what he knows of Driffield's early life, especially his time with his promiscuous first wife, Rosie.

The book is mostly a satire of the literati of Maugham's time and is at its best at such satirical moments. But I read that Maugham's main interest in the novel was Rosie. He had conceived her character a long time back and used this plot simply as a setting for her.

The Dark Knight

Directed by Christopher Nolan.

Released in 2008.

Fantastico! I am watching it again with my Mom in a few days. Yippy! Heath Ledger was amazing. 

My favorite moment is when Maggie Gyllenhaal realizes that she won't be saved. And she says with this quiet acceptance, "It's okay. It'll be okay." And is promptly vaporized. I was like, "NAHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

*tear*

She is so pretty.

The script was quite good too. Kudos, Chris Nolan. His scripts are usually very good; The Prestige and Memento being the best examples. He understands structure. If you haven't seen Memento, you really should. It is a murder mystery in reverse. Carrie-Anne Moss is in it. That screenplay is all about structure and timing.