Blogged using Elinks

I have been trying out the elinks browser since a couple of days now. I had wanted to use a text browser for quite sometime now. Initially i started off with Lynx. However, I found links and Elinks especially to be very useful. Why a text based browser? well, pages load faster, lesser distraction from images( in some ways easier on the eye ), and also one can read the content with more concentration. One major drawback was the most email services would not open in a text browser. Thankfully, GMail now works very well in elinks. Unfortunately, Yahoo and rediffmail perform much poorly using this. rediff is practically useless. some important buttons in yahoo mail do not work. well, let me see how it goes! Three cheers for the developers and many heartfelt thanks!

ICEWM

I have been using the ICEWM window manager for quite sometime now. The configuration is very simple, the themes are very nice and it is very fast. The hotkeys make perfect sense. Many thanks to the developers, may their tribe increase! Slackware should seriously consider adding ICEWM as the default desktop, XFCE-4 is also quite nice but nothing like ICEWM.

Virumandi, Traffic and Snatch

have been itching to write about these three great movies for sometime now. However due to something or the other, I have not been able to do so.

Virumandi

Let me begin with Virumandi; that Kamal Hasan is a great actor is beyond any reasonable doubt. However, somehow in Kamal Hasan movies, there tends to be an overdose of …… Kamal! In Virumandi though, all the main characters get reasonably balanced screen time. Let me write down why I love the movie so much so that I write a blog entry for it. Firstly, all the actors have done a magnificient job; I like the accented Tamil. The rustic atmosphere is captured very well, especially the introduction of Kamal Hasan in the Jallikatu scene. The Jalikattu jockey constantly nattering away into the microphone is a natural actor; especially as he mixes up part of the bull’s name with that of the female protagonist. These little touches somehow lend a more mature touch to Indian/Tamil film-making, in my humble opinion of course. The final shot with Kamal Hasan talking on the TV show is excellently done. Some other scenes nicely done are when the policeman threatens the hunger striking prisoners(”irru varren”), the tragi-comic scene at KH’s grandma’s burial; KH’s statement regarding the mercy petition is superbly done, not only do his character’s words ring true but his emoting is way beyond words. Kothalla Thevar is introduced in a great manner. The storyline is also reasonably good, introducing the theme of the death penalty in the beginning is very nicely done. The prison riot at the end and the gruesome death of the villain is a bit overdone. The music is also done reasonably well. The songs kind of grow on you. All in all, a very nice movie. Of course, we go and watch movies for the entertainment value but then as we all know there are Govinda movies for entertainment too. There should be some slight intellectual appeal to movies, that adds spice to the proceedings.

Traffic and Benicio Del Toro

Now, this is a well acclaimed movie, Benicio Del Toro especially has won rave reviews for his acting. I should also add mine here. Michael Douglas has also done a nice job and so has the actress playing his daughter. Again, the movie is shot in two different colours for scenes occuring on Mexican streets/desert and for Douglas scenes. For me, it was Benicio Del Toro’s performance which has been the chief attraction. In my very humble opinion, he has been wasted in the Usual Suspects. In Snatch, his acting again shines through. Of course this is the matter of the next paragraph….

Snatch

Guy Ritchie has me enthralled with “Lock, Stock and Two smoking barrels” and Snatch. I must confess here that I am a big fan of the British or should i say English accent. So, Jason Statham pulling off the door of his caravan and saying “Its TipTop” is a terrific scene. The typical understated British humour has us chuckling almost thoughout the movie. I am very happy to see that Mr.BrickTop has been completely utilised in the movie. He, as far as i recall, did not have much of a role in LSTSB. The only sore point is the dolt Brad Pitt. The less said about him the better… I do wish Mr.Guy had cast someone else, anyone else, than Brad Pitt. Vinnie Jones is terrific as Bullet tooth Tony. The trio of the black small time gangsters is priceless. I cannot sing enough paens about this movie; I shall only say that this is THE MOVIE for depressed people. I have always bounced back from a glum mood after watching a few scenes…

No Country for Old Men........

I personally thought that this movie was a bit overrated. Javier is sufficiently cool as the killer, though his novel way of dispatching people with the pressurised bolt struck me as a bit "novel", to borrow from Yes Minister. As an aside, the Indian critics who have been drooling over this would have ripped apart any Hindi movie if the villain in it would do some such antics. Tommy Lee Jones is also nice as the aged policeman and Josh Brolin is very good too. The most memorable scene for me is the one where he loads the gun after reaching the bank of the lake and gunning down the chaing dog at the last moment. The scene had me wondering if he would make it! However, all said and done the movie is a bit strange, the unsatisfying ending has been commented on by so many people. I personally did not like it very much; from what I read on IMDB etc. he plugs the guy's wife too at the end. It could have been made clearer. The looooong speech by Mr.Jones' character could have been cut down. However in my opinion the biggest spoilsport is the villain himself. He is too cold and robotic, does not make any sense to me. However, who am I to speak against the great Oscar judge coterie......