Sunday, November 25, 2007

American gangster- yet another gangster movie?



I saw a new movie yesterday- American gangster starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe.

The movie depicts the crime scene in Harlem, New York during the late 1960s- when American gangsters slowly began to replace the classic Italian mafias. The movie follows the life of one such heroin kingpin, Frank Lucas (played by Denzel Washington). In the midst of Prohibition and heavy drug abuse in the US, Lucas goes to southeast Asia to buy pure heroin directly from the growers and finds an ingenious way to transport it back to New York. Because of his unique means of supply and transport, he is able to sell the drug in a very pure form for a much cheaper price than the competitors. He calls it 'Blue magic' and it becomes the rage among all the junkies in the city. Lucas quickly becomes a wealthy and powerful drug lord in Harlem.

Russell Crowe plays an honest detective battling against the corrupt New York police department to identify the gang behind 'Blue magic'. He forms a team of small-time but honest detectives and they cleverly investigate the Harlem drug scene.

The story might seem like the usual cop vs. criminal story, but the screenplay is very powerful. It brings out how one man, an African American man slowly takes over the New York drug scene using his clever capitalist ways, leaving the Italian mafia and the police department stunned. The movie succeeds in depicting the gritty underbelly of both the city's crime scene and the police department. Most of the movie is shot in tones of browns and yellows, giving it a musty, raw and almost dirty feel- leaving the viewer with a real sense of what it was like in Harlem at that time.

Having said all that, I also have to confess that the movie did put two of my friends to sleep. If I managed to stay awake, it was partly due to my self control but mostly due to the lack of decent heating in that god forsaken theater. Can't sleep when you are constantly cold! The movie, in an attempt to realistically depict the life of an American gangster, stretches longer than required. Out of the 2 and a half hours, the first half is slow moving; some scenes are unnecessary and almost hinder the storyline. The second half though is gripping and makes up for the first half.

When voting for which movie to watch, I voted against American Gangster- it was my two friends, yes the ones who fell asleep, who picked the movie. I entered the theater thinking... 'Oh gosh, here goes another violent and bloody gang movie where everybody dies in the end.' It was a gang movie and yes, there was some blood and gore, but ironically behind the premise of all that violence, there was a very positive message. A gangster who rises to power in a world where no other man of his kind had ever gained such power; A police officer who solves the case despite all the other corrupt fellow officers standing in his way... If that doesn't say 'you can do whatever you set your mind to' I don't know what does!

Friday, November 16, 2007

My shiny red moment

There are times when life imitates the movies... when one of those cheesy cinematic moments that make you go 'awwwwwww' actually happens to you! Usually those feel-good movie moments make me think 'Please, does that ever happen to normal people?' But when it does happen, I think it's the Universe's way of conking me on the head and reminding me to quit being so god-damn negative.

Well, I got one such conk recently. I arrived in Omaha, Nebraska two days ago to visit my dad. It was a typically cold Omaha evening and so I was ready to run inside the house the moment my dad parked the car. But, instead of taking me inside, my dad took me to a nearby parking spot and handed me a set of keys. And there in the parking spot sat... a shiny red Honda Civic! MY shiny red Honda Civic -my very first car! It was beautiful and I, well lets just say I had to stop myself from hissing 'My Precioussssss'! You should have seen my face at that moment- I had a smile wide enough to make any Colgate representative proud. My hands were jittery- though that could have been because of the cold. I found a large orange ribbon tied around the car and I cut it open, feeling like a total celebrity. The inside of the car was decorated with several bows (again shiny red) and I found attached to the steering wheel a card. It read

'Congratulations on all that you've achieved. We are so proud of you' and it was signed by my mom, dad and sis.

It gave me goosebumps to read the card. By now, the smile was a little less prominent on my face- I turned away from my dad just in case a few tears suddenly appeared as they so often do with me, revealing the total softie that I am. Now, for those who are wondering 'why the heck are they congratulating her now?', I suppose some background information would help. The congratulations were for me having completed my Masters and having found a job.

Though my dad had told me that he was looking for a car for me, it was just an awesome feeling to be told by my family that they were proud of me...and in this way. After 2 years of living by myself and struggling with the pressures of a masters degree, I felt aptly rewarded.

This incident reminded me of that full house episode where DJ gets a red car with bow and all for her 16th birthday...and of course the studio audience cheers and claps, oohs and aaahs, all in chorus. Well, I imagine that if there had been a studio audience present that cold evening when I got my car, they would've definitely let out at least a tiny 'awwww' for me...and my shiny red moment! :)

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Tagged by Anu!

I've been tagged for the first time and I'm actually quite excited about it. Does that make me a big dork, if being tagged on Blogger is the highlight of my day? Anyways, here goes:

"The Challenge: Make a list of five strengths that you possess as a writer/artist. It’s not really bragging, it’s an honest assessment (forced upon you by this darn meme). Please resist the urge to enumerate your weaknesses, or even mention them in contrast to each strong point you list. Tag four other writers or artists whom you’d like to see share their strengths.”


This is a tough one for me because I'm not the world's most positive person, not even close actually. So, talking strengths is not my thing. Also, the question kinda makes me feel like I'm sitting for a job interview- almost want to open up my file and start brandishing my certificates! I bet you didn't know I was 'student of the month' in 6th grade! Anyways, despite all my apprehensions, I gave this tag some thought and here's what I came up with:

1. Honesty and simplicity: Honesty is a quality that's very important to me. So, I try to keep my stories honest. I like writing that is simple and true. No pretensions, no flowery language, no fancy words! Its another issue that all the GRE vocabulary that I crammed into my head never made it past my short term memory- so I cant use fancy words even if I wanted to. Oops, did I 'enumerate my weekness'? Did I break the rules? Told you that I didn't have a single positive bone in my body!

2. Appreciation for humor: I really appreciate writing that's humorous, especially if its subtle, sarcastic and witty. Though this may not count as a strength in my writing, I think this appreciation helps improve my writing. I think writing humorously without overkill is extremely difficult and so the few who are able to write like this, just know 'I bow to thee!'

3. Endings : I like stories with powerful endings- I'm a big fan of O'henry because all his short stories have powerful and unpredictable endings. So, I attempt to write stories with endings that either surprise or neatly connect all the pieces of the story together.

4. I try: I think the fact that I try to write is a strength in itself. I've always loved to write. When I was little, I used to watch my grandpa sit in his chair and write every night. Maybe I bothered him too much and he just wanted to give me something to do, but one day, he gave me a notebook of my own. I used to sit beside him every night and write little stories in that notebook. Despite the fact that they all started with 'Once upon a time' and ended with 'happily ever after', I was so proud of these stories. Every poor visitor to our house was forced at gunpoint to read them! During middle and high school, I went around telling anyone who cared to listen that I wanted to become a journalist. I became a writer for the school newspaper, attended journalism seminars and even wrote for the city newspaper. But nothing much happened of that dream as I followed the 'path most taken' toward conformity and Computer science. After that, I never really wrote much until I started blogging. So, the fact that I started blogging and have been trying to write again is by far the strength I'm most happy about.

There... thats a challenge successfully completed. Yeah, I know I was supposed to list 5 strengths, but I can't put up with any more positive-ness and really, how long can a person talk about herself?!

I would like to tag:
G - He's exploring his passion for photography in the midst of a busy schedule and I would love to hear about 5 strengths he possesses as a photographer!
Mansi - She's one of those funny and witty writers I love.
my sis, Sowmya - She's an awesome writer but refuses to start a blog. Maybe this will help start her off.