Infernal Affairs - The Departed

I have heared about Infernal Affairs since quite sometime but have never been able to get my hands on it. Fortunately with the hype of The Departed - the Martin Sorcese version of this 2002 Hong Kong movie, I was determined to get my hands on the dvd and earlier this week I picked it up from Borders.

The plot: Chan Wing Yan (Tony Leung) is an undercover cop who has infiltrated the Triad crime ring. While he hopes to carry out his mission and get Sam (the Triad's boss) arrested, he discovers that Sam too has a mole in the police department - Lau Kin Ming (Andy Lau), who is determined to expose Yan.

The movie is quite brilliant - a great cat and mouse chase. Its not your usual HK action movie. It's a taut and intense thriller, where both Yan and Lau play shades of grey. At first you are forgiven if you hate Lau as the mole in the police dept., but then due to the death of the Superintendent he has a change of heart. Lau's character is ironically reflected in the lead character of his fiancee's book. She has conjured up the lead as a man who has 28 different personalities and she struggles to figure out if she wants to paint the lead as a good or a bad guy. And that's exactly what the audience is left with at the end of the movie - deciding whether Lau is a good or a bad guy. And does one right pardon a thousand wrongs?

All in all a great movie to watch. I do intend to watch parts 2 & 3 when I can get my hands on them. And before that I would look forward to watch Sorcese's version of Infernal Affairs - The Departed. Scorcese has the original team of Felix Wong and Siu Fai Mak (who is also one of the directors of the original) helping him with the screenplay. No Scorcese movie is a never-see, but I wonder if Leo (Billy Costigan) and Matt Damon (Colin Sullivan) can do justice to the roles of Yan and Lau respectively. But I'm quite sure that Jack Nicholson's potrayal of Frank Costello aka Sam (the gang boss) would be something of a treat! The Departed opens across North America on October 6. Watch this space!

Dancing Barefoot

U2 - Dancing Barefoot

Chelsea FC ties up with Yash Raj Films for Bollywood Film

This was interesting to say the least. Yesterday I found myself looking at news of Chelsea FC teaming up with India's Yash Raj Films for the production of a Hindi (Bollywood) movie.

Chelsea was approached by Yash Raj earlier with the story line of the film. The release of the film could coincide with a possible Premiership "triple" if Chelsea successfully defends the title this season, a Chelsea release said.

Abhishek, Priety Zinta, and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai and former Miss Universe Lara Dutta all visited Stamford Bridge, the Chelsea headquarters, recently to attend matches against Charlton and Liverpool.

Abhishek, who plays a character called Ricky in the film said: "The character I play in the film is of a very loyal Chelsea fan. I have now had the chance to see Chelsea live after following them over the last few years and the club have given me a jersey with my character's name Ricky on it, so that was fun.

"A friend of mine introduced me to Chelsea. I enjoy their football and the way they play. The Premier League is very popular in India and Chelsea has a huge support over there and it is growing all the time," he said.

Now, why on earth would they do that? Diversifying your portfolio you said? Roman might have a pretty weird advisor for him to invest in Hindi movies. The only logical sense would be to increase the fanbase in India (where they aren't as many fans compared to Liverpool, ManUtd). So what next? Malaysian, Singaporean, Indonesian movies to reach out to the fanbase there too? Oh, I did miss out on the Chinese and HK market. One for that too. And definitely one in Portugese, to make our man Jose happy! :)

Btw the bit in the last paragraph in the insert was quite funny - Chelsea has a huge support over there (India) . Please!!!

Crossposted at BlogFC

DoNotCall

Haven't there been days where you have been hounded by tele-sales calls? And you always wondered if you should screen calls or not pick up the phone if you didn't recognize the number? I don't know how many of you know about the Do Not Call registry here in the USA. Its quite simple. Just register your number and most sales-calls would not come through.

The National Do Not Call Registry gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. Most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days. If they do, you can file a complaint at this Website. You can register your home or mobile phone for free. Your registration will be effective for five years.

Freewheeling

Second snowfall of the season and the mountains look beautiful from a distance. Leaves are strewn everywhere, some blowing in the wind. Taking leave for the moment.

The day's been wet, somewhat like in London when you have to walk in the constant drizzle and cold and but you are grateful that you got your jacket along. Hot cups of coffee and tea drunk outside while the wind plays around us, not threateningly yet, just teasing. That nice kind of cold that brings a smile to your face. Winter's begun. Fall was hardly here and its left with the brown leaves as its only trace.

I had a moment at the vending machine. It loves me. After I selected my item, it started pushing forward and there was second when it thought better and stopped. My heart skipped a beat. But it decided to be nice and in another second I had my M&Ms in my hands. Tease!

Xabi Alonso goal vs Newcastle

Ridiclous long range shot by Alonso

Snow on the mountains - this morning

Not the greatest pic. Will try to take a better one and replace this. But just to let you know. Been wet and windy and cold since early morning.


Update: Better one now.

Dilbert

Who is Jonathan Ive?

Businessweek has a nice article about the man behind Apple's designs.

To understand how to make a plastic shell look exciting rather than cheap, Ive and others visited a candy factory to study the finer points of jelly bean making. They spent months with Asian partners, devising the sophisticated process capable of cranking out millions of iMacs a year. The team even pushed for the internal electronics to be redesigned, to make sure they looked good through the thick shell. It was a big risk for Jobs, Ive, and Apple. Says one rival: "I would have had to prove that transparency would increase our sales, and there's no way to prove that." He figures Apple spends as much as $65 per PC casing, vs. an industry average of maybe $20.

Studio 60 on the sunset strip

Studio 60 premiered on NBC last night and I like it already. More here on Wiki. I mean I have had enough of hospitals, cops, housewives. And I like Matthew Perry and Amanda Peet. I wouldn't like to go on and tell you what's it all about especially since the pilot is available online. Click on Studio 60 and go to 'Miss an episode'.

A handful of movies

I have been looking to blog for sometime but kept shying away due to laziness though I would put work and weekend trips as my official excuses! :)

So anyways, in between my trips work, I have been able to watch a lot of movies thanks to the public library which is closeby.

The ones I watched and loved are East of Eden, The grapes of wrath, How to steal a million, Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, It's a wonderful life, Enron - The smartest guys in the room. These are the ones I remember. A watched a few more but they aren't worth it as I don't remember them. :)

I have a few lying around - The 400 blows, Adam's rib, The Station Agent.

As time permits me, I shall blog on the ones I like.

Royal Gorge (Canon City, Colorado) Photoblog

Yellowstone & Grand Tetons Photo Blog

Best Laid Plans

I know i know...I have disappeared lately...lots to write - about trips, movies, incidents etc etc...am off to Yellowstone tomorrow. Hopefully once I'm back next week I can do some justice to this blog again. Have a great weekend you all!