Happy holidays!

Ho ho ho etc. Yes I'm still alive, I've just been busier than a ... instert cliche of own choosing here, cos I'm too busy to think of one! Actually things have calmed down a bit over the holidays, thank god, but not for long. It is, as always, my own fault for not doing things when they were supposed to be done, but whatevs, let's not talk about that now. Let's just say that trying to graduate from my uni is NO FUN.

Anyways, happy holidays, whichever you celebrate, and happy New year, everyone! My biggest wish at the moment is that 2008 doesn't go by in a flash like 2007 did, so fingers crossed on that one.

Cook like the Khans, bake like the Bachchans

I was at a book fair a couple of days ago and found something unusual among the usual piles of Jamies, Nigellas and Gordons:


(You can have a look inside on Amazon.)

It's a book with favourite recipes of the most popular film stars and it looks beautiful, there's a bunch of movie stills, pictures of filmi folk and posters, and of course delicious-looking food. Yum!

November is the cruellest month

Welcome to November, the suckiest month of the year (followed closely by February, but at least that's shorter) - the days are short and cold and rainy and windy and grey and flippin depressing, and every time you look at the calendar, you (well, I) realise with a nasty shock how quickly time is passing and just how little (well, nothing) you managed to do out of that long list of Things To Do ASAP Or Even Sooner, No Kidding, This Is Really Important So You'd Better Start Working Right Now, I Mean It! Eek.

Anyway. I've come up with a new tag to soften the blow and ease the panic attacks a little. It is:

5 things to look forward to


5. The upcoming film festival. Slightly disappointing selection this year, but maybe that's a good thing, because I'm buying enough tickets to break the bank as it is ...



4. The release of Rufus! Rufus! Rufus! sings Judy! Judy! Judy! DVD on 3 December. What better New Year's present could a loving parent/sibling/friend give to the Rufus fanatic (ie. ME) in their life? I'd better start dropping some hints.



3. Om Shanti Om! I might actually be able to catch this one at the cinema in Vienna if it's still playing when I go there at the end of the month.



2. Series 3 of The Mighty Boosh, at long last! Premiering on BBC on 15 November and hopefully coming out on DVD soon after.



1. Vienna, here I come! (Furthermore, first we take Vienna, then we take Berlin Munich ... and then we're broke.)



There we go, I'm feeling better already. Hopefully it'll have the same effect on the people I tag - t-hype, Beth and Sheetal, ye be tagged!

Bollywood makes the news! Again!

Wow, I know I've been kind of swamped over with work lately, but this is too much - I'm so out of the loop I didn't even know John Abraham had a smokin' new haircut! What the flip? When did this happen?


Anyway, No Smoking was screened at the film festival in Rome a few days ago, and the event made last night's entertainment news over here! It's only the second time in two years that that's happened (the first was Omkara) but I'm still taking it as a sign that things are looking up for us BW fans in Slovenia. Nope, I don't know where this sudden bout of optimism is coming from, but don't worry, I'm sure it won't last. And when I say "us BW fans", I obviously mean "me".

The news is archived online, so if you feel a sudden urge to watch a clip about No Smoking (which looks pretty awesome, as far as I'm concerned) in Slovene, you can do so here. Skip the bit about the giant robot (don't even ask) and go to 1:40 - there's clips from the movie, statements from the director and John Abraham, the lot!

Water

• IMDb


• Official website

A couple of months ago, I was checking the website of my local cinema for a list of upcoming movies and among them was something completely unexpected - imagine my surprise and delight when I saw Water would premiere here in early October! I finally got to see it yesterday and boy, was it worth the wait. It's been a long time since I saw a movie as beautiful and touching as this, especially at the cinema, which is usually reserved almost exclusively for Hollywood blockbusters. I can only hope it will become regular practice to screen movies like this one as well.


The cast is outstanding, young Sarala, Lisa Ray and Seema Biswas in particular, though I'd like to have seen a bit more emotion in John Abraham's performance. He was good enough not to stick out though, which is saying something, considering his usual acting range!
The story moves along at a pace that allows you to think about what you're watching, but is never slow enough to let your attention wander from the screen. The cinematography is gorgeous (especially all those shots of the water), there's beautiful music by AR Rahman, in fact I really don't think I can find a single flaw in Water. Even the subtitles were good! And unlike most of my other reviews, I'm not even being overly subjective this time - after the movie ended, I discussed it with my friend and we both agreed it was absolutely fantastic (and yes, the ending made us both cry). If you haven't seen it yet, what are you waiting for?