The eclipse

And suddenly, anything is possible. Its power is undeniable; its beauty mesmerizing; its lure biblical; its meaning unknowable. And as quickly as it comes, it disappears, leaving us to dwell on our own insignificance, in the face of God.

- Mohinder Suresh (Heroes - Season 3 Chapter 9)

Top Ten - You know it's summer in Champaign when...

- The windows and doors need to be kept closed from preventing the outside (fresh) air from getting in.

- The power in the living room keeps tripping coz there is a fan, AC, laptop and microwave connected.

- Evening tennis begins only after the sun sets.

- You would rather just sit in the AC bus and roam around campus rather than wait at the bus stop for a connecting bus.

- You get up early and run to the office or library to study coz there's central AC there and you will end up saving on your monthly electricity bill.

- You feel like having the AC for lunch and the fan for dinner.

- You start visiting people who keep their houses cooled the whole day.

- You postpone meetings coz you don't want to walk one block in the scorching heat.

- You say it out loud, "India is better (temperature-wise)"

- You wonder why God gave you hair all over.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

What the hell is wrong with directors these days? Watch this movie and you will scream out, "How is that possibly logical?" several times. Kevin James was probably doing this movie as a favor to someone otherwise I don't believe he is suicidal. 

I really don't understand how a little girl can enter a mall surrounded by cops and SWAT from all sides. Moreover, I don't understand how a man with a chilli ketchup bottle can defeat another man with a gun. Also, why the stupidest people on earth would rob a mall. 

This movie will make you wonder all of the above and more. 

My Rating: C

Terminator: Salvation

By the way, I got a call from John Connor himself from the future, and he says that there were 6 terminator movies made in all. The last two were called Terminator: Almost and Terminator: Finally. 

There is no real point in just stretching a particular storyline just because it makes money. I am a huge Terminator fan. I love the concept, it's so unique. Something that I love the Matrix for as well. But this movie doesn't really prove that progress is being made by mankind towards survival. Even the story of this movie kind of reminds you of the previous adventures of Connor. Same shit, new sequel. The special effects are A-grade. They won't disappoint you, and you might even enjoy the movie and say that its a nice, one-time watch. I would recommend changing the name of the movie in that case because I expect much much more from a Terminator film. 

Bale does fine as Connor. But what this movie needed was a Cameroon touch, desperately. Terminator 2 just had a touch of genius stamped all over it. T2 made 204 million at the box office. I think this one will scrape through and reach one hundred. 

And now, John Connor is having a baby... amazing! Elasticity at its best!! 

My Rating: B-

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

The reason I thought that film-makers were willing to make X-Men Origin based movies was for the likes of Halle Berry and Hugh Jackman. After watching the movie, I realized that they actually wanted to tell their tales. Personally, I don't think anybody other than Wolverine or Jene Gray have stories worth telling. 

The movie blends in with the whole X-Men ensemble. But serious questions can be asked about the whereabouts of Magneto and/or why they had to use a double for Patrick Stewart. The flick is entertaining on the whole. Jackman and Schreiber do justice to Wolverine and Sabertooth respectively. 

Some alterations have been made to the script, so most X-Men fans will easily spot the useless pieces of junk added here and there. They've made a movie, not told the exact tale. The flick does a good job as a stand-alone film. 

My Rating: B+

He's just not that into you

Getting a huge star cast and trying to educate people about dating and love isn't the best way to make a successful film. I think the makers of He's just not that into you started seeing improvement in their love lives after they saw Love Actually or some other educational movie about love. I think so did the cast. You can see the cast make an effort though. The preformances by Bradley Cooper and Ginnifer Goodwin stand out the most.

Even the dumbest person on the planet has the scope to learn more from his or her own experiences than by watching this movie. The fact of the matter is that there is no triumph over cupid. Nothing can be figured out.

My Rating: C+

Angels and Demons

Being the movie buff that I am, I thought it would be a good idea to warn the movie-goers through this medium. I easily watch at least 20 movies in a month. So, I have decided to review each movie that I see via short-and-sweet summaries followed by a rating. 

Robert Langdon is the luckiest idiot on the planet. In Angels and Demons, whatever he looks at turns to clues. I liked Da Vinci Code more than this flick, coz this has been made more into a Hero-vs-Villian type saga. Ewan McGregor has done a phenomenal job. He is one of the rare chameleon actors that the industry has. The problem is that he doesn't get offered a decent number of good movies. I have full faith in Tom Hanks and Ron Howard. They are the top-draw. Their attempts are noteworthy, but cannot save this film from a mediocre script. 

I would spend 20 hours with Dan Brown rather than 2 hours with Howard for sure.

My Rating: B-