Tag: review

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Favourite Watchable Movies etc..

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Recently, there was an event where actors, producers, directors in Hollywood were asked to provide their list of their top 4 movies. Many of them struggled with their answer. Especially for those in the industry, movies are surrounding them and to narrow the selection to the top 4 can be very challenging. I know I have already listed my favourite movies on a different post, but I realized that this list can change.

At an industry even recently, I asked a colleague this question and before answering, he said that what he defines his favourite movies to be are movies that if they are on television, he will watch them over and over again.

Because I am always considering various criteria – ensuring my selection represents diversity, has a drama, comedy, older movie, new movie….I can get steeped down and if I were asked on the spot, I would answer, but I don’t know that my list would be accurate because there are so many great movies that sometimes get forgotten.

For instance, the other night, my husband and I came upon The Road to Perdition, which we both had not seen in a while and even though it was 1/3rd through, we watched and just admired what a great movie it is. First of all, the direction by Sam Mendes is brilliant, the cinematography is on point for the era it depicts, the soundtrack is haunting and the acting and group of actors is simply compelling. Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Daniel Craig, Stanley Tucci, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law….. magnificent. And the boy playing the son, Tyler Hoechlin – just scene stealing. That movie is just riveting and it gets missed from my favourites consistently.

My list of watchable movies, where no matter if I had just watched it, will watch again, is quite long. It includes movies such as a Few Good Men, Legally Blonde, Casino Royale, Skyfall, Heat, Rocky Aur Rani, Pathaan, Gone With the Wind, Any Equalizer movie with Denzel, Gladiator, Funny Girl, Any Star Wars movie, most MCU movies, but especially Thor Ragnarok, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Black Panther and End Game, The Fugitive, Patriot Games, The Bourne Identity (only with Matt Damon), The Ya Ya Sisterhood, How to Marry a Millionaire, Breakfast at Tiffanys, The Ocean 11 movies, especially the Oceans 9 movie, the original West Side Story, The Philadelphia Story, 10 Commandments, Rear Window, Vertigo, In the Line of Fire, Mission Impossible 4, the John Wick franchise, Elf, Anchorman, Zoolander, Beverly Hills Cop, Hidden Figues, Trading Places, Get Out, Daddy’s Home 2, Goodfellas, The Godfather movies (1 and 2), Hilary and Jackie ……honestly, I could probably provide a never ending list because I adore movies.

These past couple of years, I have not seen many movies that I adored, but there were a few – Sinners was amazing and I love great horror movies. I thought Conclave was brilliant and provided great insights into the selection of a Pope, which was on point. I really enjoyed Materialists and am a big Celine Song fan, and lastly, I really liked the Wild Robot, which I watched with my son and thought it was very innovative and touching. Although formulaic, I did enjoy F1 also, just because I like a good blockbuster.

I look forward to discovering old and new movies, never watched and always knowing that I have the comfort of previously watched movies, like a warm blanket, or catching up with an old friend.

But that’s just one Diva’s view.

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Pump up the volume

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Pump up the volume by MARRS was a popular song in the late 80s, specifically, 1987. I heard it this morning on my drive into work and I had not heard this song in forever. It was a 1 hit wonder for MARRS and for me, it was a pretty memorable song.

Now you have to contextualize the time period. During that time, music in North America was pretty Western and did not have any international influences. Growing up, because of my South Asian and Caribbean heritage, we always had music playing from India and Trinidad. South Asian music was a mix of Indian, Calypso, Arabic, Russian; influences from around the world and this shaped my musical palette. There was a song that my Dad used to song, which was a Russian melody with Hindi or Bengali lyrics. Growing up, I learned that Hindi movies were popular worldwide, and especially in Arabic countries and Russia. It was not until this century, that South Asian music became more universally accepted in North America.

However, in the 80, there was Pump up the Volume. It was a dance song, which definitely attracted the ear of this middle schooler. But on top of this, it had this really cool break with an Arabic singer, which was innovative. Although kids at my school could not tell the difference between cultures and often asked me to translate what was being said, I honestly did not take offence; I was just happy to hear something different, yet familiar, in a song.

Now we take for granted the fusion we hear in music, but in the late 80s, this track stood out. On top of that, it was a well produced song, with a strong drum rhythm and listening to it this morning, I was still moving and grooving.

I love that today, our music has become more global. I love all of the influences and particularly enjoy the Afro Beats and Latin influences. To the embarrassment of my kids, I love K Pop and my fave song during the Holiday break was APT, about a Korean drinking game.

I hope that acceptance of global music can transcend in other ways…..

But that’s just one Diva’s view.

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My fascination with the Arts

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One of my favourite memories growing up was listening to my parents share stories about growing up in India and Trinidad. There was something so fulfilling to learn about our history and ancestry and it definitely shaped who I am. My Mom shared stores of her fearlessness, climbing mango trees to the very top and roaming around in the countryside- they were inspiring.

However, one of the stories I was fascinated with growing up, was from my Dad. He was born in Calcutta and was a young boy during Partition in India. Calcutta was one of the cities which experienced a lot of strife and division and the State of Bengal was divided with half remaining in India and the other half, to form East Pakistan, later known as Bangladesh. My grandfather owned one of the first Bata shoe companies in India, and had gone to the Czech Republic, for training, before opening the store. However, as a result of Partition, the store was burned down. There was no insurance and the family was struggling as a result.

The folklore is that my Dad was on the verandah singing, when a movie director was walking by and heard him. He was looking to cast a young boy in a movie and my Dad was chosen. It was the answer to the family’s financial problems. My Dad was pulled out of school and made this film. The money was used to rebuild the family business. My Dad’s love of movies, was born and then passed down to me. However, my Dad did not get to enjoy the earnings, and he was asked to leave the school he was attending at the time, because he missed so much school to do the movie. The experience really fostered in my Dad a reliance on self education and constant learning, but I digress.

My Dad’s cousin brother, lived in the family compound. He went onto become a huge Bollywood star and growing up, we used to watch him in both Hindi and Bengali movies. Hindi movies were iconic for us, growing up and to know that we had a relative who was a movie star was “mind blasting”. We learned one of his songs, which we would perform and became one of my favourites – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kru9g_K5IPo

And from there and this legacy, my fascination for movies and the Arts was born. As previously described, I love movies. I love the process of making movies and learning about the origins of the movies, the production process, the direction of the movie by the Director and the actors. I love to hear the stories about the process about making the movie – the trials and tribulations and then I devour the promotion of the movie, the opening etc.. I love music and I don’t think a single day has gone by without music in my life. I love singing and enjoying great performances – it is soul fuelling.

It is curious because I was bit by the performing bug early on. My Dad would have me performing at cultural shows from the time that I was 4 before an audience of 200 plus people. My dance performances left much to be desired, by my singing and acting performances, really allowed my inner creativity to shine! I participated in school musicals and plays and was very active with our school’s music program- both singing and instrument wise. My Music teacher actually made an application for me to a New York Performing Arts school and I was accepted. But I knew that as much as my Dad loved this world, my parents would not support me pursuing this as a vocation. I had to be sensible and choose an occupation which would give me a steadier path and so I chose the career I have now, with no regrets.

But my choice in vocation did not temper my fascination for the Arts. I find the Arts and the creative process so fascinating. I find for me, music, movies and the history to be meditative, because I can immerse myself in it so fully, that my mind actually shuts down and enjoys the beauty. It is my escape. I have tried to learn to knit, sew or garden as beautifully as my Mom did, but it must have skipped a generation. It definitely did because my Son is right now focused on growing his Cherry Tomato plant. But I am so lucky that I have my passion for music and movies. It really allows me to keep my creativity going and given the chaos in the world, isn’t it nice to have an escape?

But that’s just one Diva’s view.