Theological conundrum

In the Book of Genesis, God is attributed to having said that He has created man in His own image.
How then does one reconcile oneself to a Supreme Being who looks like both Mickey Rourke and Hugh Jackman?

PS: My apologies if this offends anyone.

Pun of the weak #26

I was laid low for 24 hours last week with a spectacular head cold. I'm blaming it on an e-mail I'd received a few days earlier from a friend who said that she and all those around her were suffering from severe colds.

Whassamatter? You never heard of viruses being transmitted over the Internet?

Jai Ho!

Chennai's own A. R. Rahman has just picked up back-to-back Oscars for Best Original Score and Best Song for his work on "Slumdog Millionaire". Jai Ho*, Rahman bhai!

Congratulations also to Resul Pookkutty, the first Indian film technician to be ever be nominated for an Oscar, for his win in the Sound Mixing category for "Slumdog...".

* "Jai Ho", the song for which Rahman won his second award, translates to "Be victorious".
Yes, there is a reason behind the change in the choice of music on the blog.

And the winner is...

Here are the results of my own personal Oscar awards (extremely personal, as it turns out, considering only two people even voted):

Best Picture: 1943 - Casablanca
Best Actor: 2004 - Jamie Foxx in "Ray"
Best Actress: 1953 - Audrey Hepburn in "Roman Holiday" (watch)
Best Supporting Actor: 1988 - Kevin Kline in "A Fish Called Wanda"
Best Supporting Actress: 1998 - Judi Dench in "Shakespeare in Love"
Best Song: 1971 - Theme from Shaft from "Shaft" (watch)

A few notes:
Best Picture: It ought to have been "Gandhi", but it is tough watching that movie more than once. And I didn't include "The Apartment" in my short-list, as I don't think anyone else would have seen it, which is a pity. Those of you who have never seen it, take my advice and do so.
Best Actor: This is my favourite Oscar winner. When I heard that Jamie Foxx was going to portray Ray Charles, I thought it was a joke. There's no way that that unfunny comic could pull off that role. Was there? I went to see that movie expecting a trainwreck, I came out marvelling. Jamie Foxx was Ray Charles.
Best Actress: Although not my personal winner here, Julie Andrews' acceptance speech for her win at the Golden Globes is my winner for best speech. Andrews had starred on stage as Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady", but Jack Warner of Warner Bros. decided she was too unknown for the movie version, and cast Audrey Hepburn instead. Andrews' consolation prize was practically perfect as Walt Disney cast her as Mary Poppins, and after winning the Best Actress award for "Mary Poppins", she ended her speech by thanking the man who made it all possible, Jack Warner. (Watch her Golden Globes speech here, and her Oscar speech here.)
Best Supporting Actor: Loved them all. Not a dud among the five of them. If you like heist movies, do yourself a favour and try to get ahold of "Topkapi".
Best Supporting Actress: Most of these are duds. I liked Dame Judi's acerbic portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I just a little more than the others.
Best Song: Again, not a dud among the lot of them. "The Way You Look Tonight" (watch the original performance) is one of my favourite songs, but the Theme from "Shaft" is the coolest Oscar winner ever. Here is the opening sequence to the movie. Can you dig it?

Enjoy...

Weather you like it or not

What's going on with planet earth? The same time that the state of Victoria in Australia has been undergoing quite terrible bushfires brought on by a heatwave and drought, Britain is experiencing it's heaviest snowfall in almost two decades. Heck, next door to Victoria, parts of New South Wales have been declared disaster areas due to floods!

Even we in Chennai have not been spared. This past December was the coldest in several years with night-time temperatures plunging to below 18 degrees Celsius (65 Fahrenheit)!

Er, doesn't quite compare, does it? I mean, even New Kids on the Block were cooler than that.

Still, with all the weird weather of late, I wouldn't be surprised if residents of, say, Provo, Utah, suddenly woke up to find that it's raining men.

Pun of the weak #25

The newspaper's drama critic was evidently less-than-impressed with the local amateur dramatical society's Shakespeare production. This was taken from his review:
John Smith played Hamlet last night...Hamlet lost.

What's Going On? #6

The scenes from the bushfires in the areas around Melbourne, Australia have been horrific.
But the thought that some of the fires could have been re-lit by arsonists beggars belief. Sometimes I wonder if humans really are God's ultimate creation.

Oscar time

'Tis the season of self-congratulation in the movie world with Golden Globes, SAGs, BAFTAs, et al. leading up to the big daddy, the Academy Awards. Are you excited?! Neither am I. I used to have some interest if I'd seen any of the movies that are nominated, but I've had a hard time taking the Oscars seriously ever since "Dude, Where's My Car" failed to get nominated for Best Picture.

So, to drum up a little bit of interest in the Oscars, I'm going to dwell a little in the past. I've chosen my five favourite winners from six Oscar categories, and you can vote on the ones from those five that you liked best. Then we'll see how your choices match mine.

The selection criteria are fairly simple: 1. Only Academy Award winners that I've seen are eligible for nomination.

That's about it. If you don't see you favourite winner here...that's tough. I am the only member of this academy.

So go ahead and make your selection by leaving a comment (and encourage your friends and family to do the same). And if there's one that you think I have shamefully overlooked, then feel free to make your case.

Here are the nominees:

Best Picture

1. 1934 - It Happened One Night
2. 1943 - Casablanca
3. 1982 - Gandhi
4. 2000 - Gladiator
5. 2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Best Actor

1. 1934 - Clark Gable in "It Happened One Night"
2. 1953 - William Holden in "Stalag 17"
3. 1972 - Marlon Brando in "The Godfather"
4. 1982 - Ben Kingsley in "Gandhi"
5. 2004 - Jamie Foxx in "Ray"

Best Actress

1. 1953 - Audrey Hepburn in "Roman Holiday"
2. 1964 - Julie Andrews in "Mary Poppins"
3. 1989 - Jessica Tandy in "Driving Miss Daisy"
4. 1997 - Helen Hunt in "As Good as it Gets"
5. 1998 - Gwyneth Paltrow in "Shakespeare in Love"

Best Supporting Actor

1. 1964 - Peter Ustinov in "Topkapi"
2. 1988 - Kevin Kline in "A Fish Called Wanda"
3. 1993 - Tommy Lee Jone in "The Fugitive"
4. 2000 - Benicio del Toro in "Traffic"
5. 2004 - Morgan Freeman in "Million Dollar Baby"

Best Supporting Actress

1. 1950 - Josephine Hull in "Harvey"
2. 1990 - Whoopi Goldberg in "Ghost"
3. 1996 - Juliette Binoche in "The English Patient"
4. 1998 - Judi Dench in "Shakespeare in Love"
5. 2001 - Jennifer Connelly in "A Beautiful Mind"

Best Song

1. 1936 - The Way You Look Tonight from "Swing Time"
2. 1964 - Chim Chim Cher-ee from "Mary Poppins"
3. 1971 - Theme from Shaft from "Shaft"
4. 1989 - Under the Sea from "The Little Mermaid"
5. 2001 - If I Didn't Have You from "Monsters, Inc."