Category Archives: Hollywood
Movie Classic Revisited
Long haul flights are a time to catch up on movies I’ve missed in theaters. I indulge in movie watching every once in a while in the theater, otherwise on these long and boring flights, but rarely at home.
One flight from the US to India is generally made up of two long-haul flights. So, if you add that up – watching one movie per long-haul flight, that means, at a minimum, you get four movies during one round trip from the US to India. There’s not much else to do to pass the time.
That’s what I got during the last trip. I guess I did “catch up”. But if you ask me what movies I saw and what they were about, whether good, bad or ugly, I would be hard-pressed to find an answer. I am sure I could do some research and come up with the names of movies I saw but they must have been below average or worse, because I don’t remember much about them.
But there is one movie I caught during this trip that I remember most vividly. Instead of being one of the new releases, this one was a classic. I say revisited but it was really the first time I had seen the movie. Not sure how I could have missed it before!
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Wow. Watching a young and dynamic Jack Nicholson in arguably his best role to date was simply fabulous. I am writing this post for anyone who might have missed the movie – whether from my generation, or some of the really young ones born way after this movie was released.
With all of the movie-making progress of recent years we see the results that show off their technical brilliance. But all of that cannot hold a candle to a good story done really well.
This might be some kind of record but the movie won 36 major awards including five academy awards that year for best picture, best actor, best actress, best director (Milos Freeman) and best screenplay (Adapted).
If you haven’t seen the movie, what are you waiting for?
If you have seen the movie but it’s been awhile, you won’t be sorry watching it again. Enjoy!
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When Famous People Die
“Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one’s head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no tomorrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Canterville Ghost
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(Mr. Wilde notwithstanding) Death is the only constant in life and yet after millions of years of evolution, how come we still find it so hard to accept it?
When a famous person dies, we read the obituary, acknowledge it with a touch of sadness and then move on.
Yet, sometimes when death is shocking, sudden, unexpected or tragically too soon, we can’t help but wonder why or mourn more deeply.
It happened with John Lennon, Heath Ledger, Michael Jackson, Princess Di, Steve Jobs….and now Robin Williams.
Shining stars with so much potential and beauty or talent or contribution and then one day, poof, gone. Just like that.
It takes a while to sink in that an icon or celebrity you saw or admired, even if from afar, is suddenly no more.
Thanks to my NY Times News Alerts, my jet lagged brain saw a message in the middle of the night in Mumbai. It began, “Robin Williams..” and I thought, Oh no!
Aeons ago, I remember watching that first episode of Mork and Mindy and then making time to watch all the other episodes every week. Actually, even before it was spun off into its own show, I remember watching his first Mork guest appearance on Happy Days with Fonzie.
Robin Williams was not about your normal, everyday humor. Oh no. It was LOL and ROFLMAO all the way. Who was this manic comic genius??!
“You’re only given a little spark of madness. Don’t lose it.” ― Robin Williams
His brilliant stand-up comedy and movies…I loved him in the wonderful roles he played in Good Morning Vietnam, Mrs. Doubtfire, Good Will Hunting, Popeye, The Birdcage…but my all-time favorite has to be Dead Poets Society. I can easily watch that again and again.
One of its unforgettable episodes is this one – What’s your verse? (click on the link or the picture below to watch). Since his death, this has been one of his most popular clips being circulated and recirculated. With good reason.
Oh Captain, My Captain!
So hard to believe you’re gone so soon. What tremendous memories you leave behind! Thank you for the laughter (and I mean the ROFL kind) that you brought to our world. We will savor it now more than ever. You bet we will.
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“Please, don’t worry so much. Because in the end, none of us have very long on this Earth. Life is fleeting. And if you’re ever distressed, cast your eyes to the summer sky when the stars are strung across the velvety night. And when a shooting star streaks through the blackness, turning night into day… make a wish and think of me. Make your life spectacular.”
― Robin Williams as English teacher John Keating in Dead Poets Society
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The Yin and Yang of Life Anywhere 