TO ZUNE OR NOT TO ZUNE

After all this time, I've finally decided to get myself an Ipod or Zune.. I've decided on the colour but not on what i wan to buy, comic.. I want you guys to help me decide.. I'll tell you guys what i feel about the two, form your own opinions and let me know what you think i should get asap..

The Ipod seemed the obvious choice.. Tested and proved.. Ease of use.. Slimmer than the zune.. Smaller too.. Not too heavy.. More than anything else, it has service centres across India too.. So worst case, service shouldn't be that big a deal.. On the flip side, it's too common and i am for Microsoft..

The Zune has its share of flaws.. Big, bulky and some concerns over the battery back up on the Zune.. The worst part about the Zune is that it can't be used as a hard disk.. That sucks and one of the main reasons i went against it.. It's advantage is that it has Radio and is Microsoft.. Unfortunately, no service centres anywhere in India yet..

Let me know what you guys think i should get.. While you are at it, also suggest what i can get engraved on the back of the player..

THE INDULGENCE TAG

Adi tagged me.. That is no reason for me to be doing this but i have nothing much else to do, so here goes..

Here are the rules:

1. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.

2. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.

3. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.

(1)Movies are my life.. Language, Length, Cast don't make a difference as long as movie is great.. Unless Pam is in it :D

(2)My bike is my most prized possession.. I consider it my first love.. Always ready for a drive..

(3)I love Chennai and wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world.. Chennai Rocks man..

(4)I am becoming more brand conscious with each passing day.. Reebok remains my favourite..

(5)I love to sleep.. Given a choice would sleep 14 hours a day.. Very Very lazy..

(6)The beach is my second home.. Spent most of my engineering life there..

(7)I am indifferent to a lot of things unless its something to do with me or someone i really care about..

(8)I am an introvert by nature.. Take a lot of time to get close to people..

I tag:

J

Santy

Gaurav(If he gets his id back)

LORD OF THE NET

Go to www.isohunt.com and look at the most searched name there.. You'll stumble upon aXXo.. What/Who exactly is aXXo??

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=axxo

aXXo is some dude in some country (don't think anyone but him knows where) who comes up with the best possible DVD Rips of movies.. The quality of his releases have given him(or her??) demi god status in the Internet world.. The number of hits his torrents get is just phenomenal.. Most of his rips are 700 MB in size, which is advantageous given you can put a movie in a CD or six in one DVD..

All of aXXo torrents are available on www.darksiderg.com.. Pretty cool site for getting torrents.. I recently stumbled upon an interview that aXXo had apparently given,

http://torrentfreak.com/interview-axxo-the-most-popular-dvd-ripper-on-bittorrent/

Comic part, he says his country doesn't believe in Copyright Infringement.. Wonder where he is from?? The main advantage of having someone like this is for people like us in countries where movies get delayed for months and in some cases don't release at all.. The corporates might not agree but then again, if they release their movies on time here, we probably wouldn't have the need to download movies (Just being diplomatic here, Gonna download the movies anyway:D)..

This post is just a tribute to whoever that great man is who has brought hours of quality entertainment to all of us.. Long live aXXo!!

Rajini Speaks on Sivaji

Thalaivar rocks.. He just had what will probably go on to become the biggest commercial success in Indian film history and look at him talk.. Takes no credit for himself and says Shankar is the reason for all that is good.. This when each two bit actor gives punch dialogues about who is first etc.. Hats off to him for showing such humility even in spite of his stature.. As he would say, 'Cooool'..

BOSS

Magical would be the word to describe watching Sivaji.. Three hours of style, charisma and everything that is our superstar.. Saw the movie at mayajaal on Saturday.. Paid a little extra for the ticket but i didn't mind one bit, Rajni movie on the second day, WOW..

The new intro for Sivaji with a rather stylish 'Superstar Rajni' was welcomed with thundering noise in the theatre.. There were a lot of firecrackers outside mayajaal before the show but this would've overshadowed that noise..

The movie didn't start like other Rajni films where the hero makes a grand entry but this one was nice.. First half was really good just cause of the Rajni-Vivek comedy track.. The best part is Vivek's one liners and his punch dialogues.. Hilarious.. This half could do with some trimming though..

The second half started with a bang and just kept getting better.. The sequence at the tea stall is surely one of his best scenes.. The one when he meets the villain at the jail was also great.. 'Mottai Boss' rocks in the end..

Specific mention needs to be made about the songs.. 'Style' and 'Athiradee' were too good to be true, especially Rajni's intro in 'Athiradee'.. The sets for 'Vaaji Vaaji' and 'Sahara' were so colourful and must have cut quite a hole in the producer's pocket.. Rahman rocks.. Shriya and Nayantara are a treat to watch in the songs.. Sizzling hot..

If any other actor had done the same stunts, one would've rubbished him.. When our Superstar does the same, it's magic on screen.. I haven't yelled so much for any movie so far.. Surely gonna watch it a couple more times..

If there is one word to describe the movie, it has to be 'Coooll'.. It's a pity Indian Cinema doesn't give Rajni his due.. The biggest Superstar in the country just proves why he is just the best.. Thalaivar Rocks..

ULTIMATE BULB

Thought it would be an experience and went for 'Blind Date' at Satyam yesterday.. Saw the schedules daily and narrowed the choices of movie to either 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom' or 'Sivaji'.. Me being the fanatic that i am, was sure they'll play Sivaji.. Satyam on the other hand had different plans..

They premiered 'The Prestige', which was pretty surprising given the movie isn't even releasing this week.. That moment made me realise i wasn't the only Rajni fanatic there.. It was so disappointing, you could just feel it in the theatre.. Some guys just got up and left immediately.. I have no idea why i stayed and watched the movie, given i had already seen it two times before..

The movie was good though.. Noticed some finer details in the movie that i hadn't before.. I know that's a stupid reason for watching a movie but what choice did i have.. The best part was when we were coming out of the theatre.. AVM had organised their red carpet premiere of the movie at Satyam and it was filled with stars.. Great sight.. Wish i was part of the film industry too :(

A decent day i guess but I'm not going to Blind Date again.. The anticipation is bad enough and if they screw it up like how they did yest, then Grrrrrr..

"ORIGINAL" SIN

Plagiarism and tamil music seem to go hand in hand nowadays.. A lot of songs we hear nowadays seem to be direct rip offs from songs of other regional languages or some foreign soundtrack.. All this discussion even without getting Deva into the picture, he truly has to be the king of plagiarism..

Yuvan Shankar Raja seems to be bit by the plagiarism bug too.. Some of his 'Original' numbers are

1.The song 'Walking Through The Rainbow' from '7G Rainbow Colony' is a direct copy from the background score of the movie Johnny staring Rajnikanth which ironically had his father illayaraja scoring the music.

2.'Jalsa' from 'Chennai 600028' is a copy of a song from the movie 'Jothi' or something.. Gau knows the name..

3.The music in the initial trailers of Chennai 600028 is a slightly indianised version of 'I'm Shipping Up to Boston' by 'Dropkick Murphys', The Departed theme music.

4.Not sure if the citibank music that comes on raaga is a copy from Pudhupettai or vice versa.. Someone told me the citibank is the original.. Not sure of that one..

5.The first 30 seconds of the song 'Yemmadi Aathadi' is a copy of 'yeah' by 'Usher'

For more on yuvan's plagiarism, see http://www.itwofs.com/tamil-yuvan.html . Link thanks to naveen.

Harris Jeyaraj too has a few such credits to his name..

1.The song 'June Pona' from 'Unnaale Unnaale' is a copy of the song 'One Love' by 'Blue'

2.The song 'Paatuku Paatu' from vetri is a direct rip off, no changes made even of the MJ hit 'Billie Jean'

What is more irritating than all this is the background scores on trailers.. I've lost count of the number of times the tracks from 'Warriors Of Heaven And Earth' by 'A.R.Rahman' have been used in these trailers.. I mean, if the composers can't compose a one minute musical bit for a trailer, he certainly doesn't deserve all the credit that he gets..

Tributes to other songs are fine.. Quite a few good ones recently..

1.'Ennama Kannu' in Thiruvilayadal Arambam

2.'Madai Thirandhu' by 'Yogi B & Natchathra'

3.'Ennadi Muniyama' in 'Vaathiyar'

I'm sure there are more cases of plagiarism in songs.. If any of you can remember any, let me know..

THIRD TIME LUCKY??

The summer this time was very exciting for movie buffs with four successful franchises releasing there third installment, all within 5 weeks.. With 4 weeks gone, i somehow feel disappointed..

The first to arrive was Spiderman 3 on May 4th.. Opened to the greatest opening in the history of cinema worldwide.. This was due to the hype alone.. When the substance of the movie was absorbed, the collections fell drastically with as much as a drop of 50% worldwide.. Great action sequences, spectacular visuals couldn't save this movie with a pretty lame ending and a wafer thin story line..

The next was Shrek 3 which released on May 18th.. I thought the first two movies were great but i almost slept through this one.. The weakest of the three movies.. The story here again is very poor and seemed more like an excuse to make a third film if not anything else.. There was so much scope for humor with 'Donkey' and 'Puss In Boots' but all was wasted.. Disappointing..

Pirates is my favourite of the three and i was pissed that it was releasing a week late here.. Somehow managed to see it the first day and this was the only movie of the three mentioned here that lived up to it's name.. My friends may disagree but i loved it.. A fitting finale to a great series.. I sincerely hope they make a fourth movie, they finished this one with a possibility of the fourth.. Great visuals, pretty good story and Johnny Depp made this movie a must watch for all pirates fan..

Ocean's Thirteen opens June 8th worldwide(Hopefully in Chennai too).. Going by initial reviews, it doesn't seem to be living up to it's hype but come what may, it can't be as bad as Ocean's Twelve.. The movie got bigger this time with Al Pacino joining in the fun.. Pity there is no Julia Roberts or Zeta Jones..

I had hoped for a better summer of movies but somehow don't feel satisfied.. Lets hope for better adventures from these stars next time.. Till then, "Drink Up Me Hearties, Yo Ho"